Blockbuster Architecture & Urbanism

Despite the often-seamless depictions of urban spaces displayed on the silver screen, the relationship between the cinematic city and the actual city is anything but direct and unbiased. The connection between cinema and urban space is increasingly complex and marked by profound mutual influence: film sets are modeled after cities, which in turn are modeled after film sets. Paris, as one of the cities most often portrayed in cinema presents an ideal case study for this phenomenon and was the focus of the Architecture, Planning and Preservation course of Columbia University's New York - Paris Program. In Blockbuster Architecture & Urbanism, students explored the complex relationship between media-based representations of Paris and the perception and form of the actual city. As different forms of media become increasingly integrated into contemporary life, an understanding of the perceptual and physical transformative power of cinema on cities is essential to the future of architecture and urbanism.