Architecture and Hollywood movies have stuck together through the years, from Alfred Hitchcock's use and representation of space to Terry Gilliam's absurdo-futurist panoply of forms in Brazil to Kubrick's use of interiors. However, we tend to forget to give the other lesser-spotted buildings from less-than-classic movies their time in the spotlight.
In the past decade, Hollywood movies have given architectural lovers plenty to gawk at, even if the films haven't been cinematic masterpieces (here's looking at you, Twilight).
Here is a list of architectural cameos in Hollywood films:
The ESO Hotel, Chile
Starred in: 'Quantum of Solace' (2008)
One look at the dramatic picture and it becomes clear why the otherworldly structure (which looks more like a space station on Mars as opposed to a Holiday Inn) featured in the Bond film Quantum of Solace.
The hotel is among the most advanced visible-light astronomical observatories. It is managed by ESO, the European Southern Observatory. In order to make workers feel at home in the largely inhospitable terrain of the Atacama Desert, the ESO created the hotel.
It was designed in collaboration with German architects Auer and Weber Freie Architekten so that it blends in with the environment. In fact, much of the residence is built beneath ground level.
Disney Opera House, California
Starred in: The Soloist'(2009)
Built in 2003, the Walt Disney Concert Hall played a starring role in the Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx-starrer "The Soloist". The concert hall, which is home to the LA Philharmonic, has been praised for its excellent acoustics and distinctive architecture.
The hall's metallic surfaces have now become synonymous with Frank Gehry's signature style.
Burj Khalifa, Dubai
Starred in: 'Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol' (2011)
When Tom Cruise memorably swung around the Burj Khalifa in Dubai—the world's tallest building—everyone held their breath.
Designed by the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), the design for the 2,717-foot skyscraper was not only inspired by minarets and desert flowers, but also by Frank Lloyd Wright's plans for the Illinois Sky-City in Chicago in 1956.
Ennis House, California
Starred in: 'The Blade Runner' (1982)
The Ennis House, built by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1924, was the fourth in a series of concrete block houses designed by the renowned architect for a client passionate about ancient Mayan culture.
Many, however, recognise the building's unique structure from the 1982 film Blade Runner, and 1975's The Day of the Locust.
Schaffer House, California
Starred in: A Single Man (2009)
This award-winning film, directed by Tom Ford, starred Colin Firth as George—a gay man who grieves the death of his partner Jim (Matthew Goode) in 1962.
A major chunk of the 2009 film was shot in the gorgeous John Lautner-designed modernist house in California. Hidden in a wooded valley at the foot of the Verdugo Mountains, the redwood, concrete and glass residence looks out onto the oak forest that influenced the orientation of the design.
The Hoke House, Portland
Starred in: Twilight (2008)
The house where the Cullens lived is known as the Hoke House. This home in Portland's Forest Park was designed by US architects Skylab Architecture.
The house is owned by John Hoke, the director of footwear design in Nike. Construction on the house began in 2006 and was completed in 2007, just in time for the first Twilight movie.
Villa Överby, Djurhamn, Sweden
Starred in: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
This house on a hilltop in Sweden by Swedish architect John Robert Nilsson is perched on a limestone-covered concrete plinth.
The glass-walled villa provides a breathtaking vista over the bay and is represented in the film as an impeccable clinical house, in order to be a facade for Martin Vanger's (played by Stellan Skarsgård) dark mind.
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