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The Architecture of Survival

Setting and Politics in Apocalypse Films
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The Architecture of Survival: Setting and Politics in Apocalypse Films offers a compelling exploration of how popular films and TV series from the past two decades use architectural spaces to comment on socio-political issues. The authors harness varied theoretical perspectives to demonstrate how, through set design, these works suggest that certain kinds of architecture support human development, community, and freedom, while other kinds separate us from our fellow humans and make democratic politics impossible. The clean lines of modernist design serve in films such as Contagion and Ex Machina as a metaphor for the sanitized, sterile politics that drive disaster. In The Walking Dead apocalypse survivors favor traditional architectural styles when rebuilding society, a choice that symbolically affirms their democratic principles. The massive walls and super-gentrification as seen in Elysium and Army of the Dead divide humanity, with those on one side wielding illegitimate power. Empty streetscapes intensify loneliness, alienation, and the destruction of civil norms. "Smart cities," offering a blend of high-tech surveillance and big data, erode social capital and community in Her and Transcendence. The book concludes with a somewhat hopeful glimpse into architecture's potential to mitigate the catastrophic adverse effects of climate change, as seen in films like Zootopia.
Jake Parcell is graduate of Saginaw Valley State University and Michigan State University, where he earned his Doctorate in Planning, Design, and Construction with a focus on Urban and Regional Planning. Erik Trump is professor of political science and directs the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan.
Chapter 1. The Aesthetics of Sterility: Modernist Architecture and the End of the World Chapter 2. Home Life in the Apocalypse: Restoring the Good City Chapter 3. "Tear Down That Wall": False Promises of Security Chapter 4. Taking It to the Streets: Politics and Streetscapes in the Future City Chapter 5. Invisible Architecture: Technology and Control in the Smart City Chapter 6. Design to Survive: Lessons from Hollywood
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