Archinect - Features

Archinect's Guide to Job Titles: Set Designer

2023-12-16T07:23:00-05:00

As we delve deeper into our exploration of key job titles within the intersection of architecture and the broader world of design, we turn our attention to a role that plays a pivotal part in the realms of film, television, and theater: the Set Designer. This role, while distinct, shares a symbiotic relationship with architectural principles, often requiring a deep understanding of space, structure, and visual storytelling. Unlike architects who design spaces for living and functionality, Set Designers create environments for narrative purposes, where each element serves the storyline and the director's vision.

This marks our latest installment in Archinect's Guide to Job Titles series. In this feature, we will explore the multifaceted role of the Set Designer. We’ll examine the key responsibilities, the skills necessary for success in this field, and how their work in film and television differs from conventional architectural practices.

Michael Wylie on the Far-Out Set Designs of 'Legion'

2017-06-15T12:16:00-04:00

By definition, a background can be easy to forget about—but it can have as much of an effect on the overall feel of a show as the script or an actor. When it comes to a show like Legion on FX, the set takes on additional importance, serving as a visual representation of the (incredibly unstable) mental state of the lead character.

‘Friedrich Kiesler: Architect, Artist, Visionary’ at Martin-Gropius-Bau tells, rather than shows, the architect's oeuvre

2017-03-31T12:08:00-04:00

"Factual communicability is privileged over the immersive experience, and architecture is presented as a set of instances—shown through models, drawings, photographs—rather than a process," the Canadian curator Carson Chan told me in a recent conversation. "Exhibited through representation, the architectural work more easily assumes the mantle of single authorship, where in situ, the same thought is almost impossible. In this sense, estrangement is built into the exhibition of architecture."