Why Movie Villains Live In Ultra-Modern Houses

Why do so many movie "supervillains" live in houses with unique modernist architecture? The obvious reason is to show us how fabulously wealthy these guys are. Yeah, a gothic mansion would do for that, but these guys are modern swinging bachelors who can afford to have a new home built to their specifications instead of settling for an inherited estate. That makes it easier to install secret escape routes, torture devices, and underground laboratories. And then there's all that glass. First, it impresses us with a view only available to the ultra-wealthy, then it figures into the plot, either by breaking or by allowing us to witness crimes. But that's just the beginning. Architect Valery Augustin sees plenty of things that modernist architecture tells us about a villain.  

Did you know that the Vandamm house in the movie North by Northwest was modeled after Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater? Augustin also looks at the the spaceship-shaped house in Body Double and houses from The Big Lebowski, Goldfinger, and Batman v Superman in this fascinating video essay. Some of these villainous lairs were movie sets, while others are real houses that still stand today. (via Damn Interesting)