Architecture in Animation: Exploring Hayao Miyazaki’s Fictional Worlds


Still from 'Spirited Away' (2001). Image Courtesy of Studio Ghibli

Still from 'Spirited Away' (2001). Image Courtesy of Studio Ghibli

Writers in film and animation, specifically pertaining to the genre of anime, endeavor to incorporate varied architectural backdrops to assist them in telling their stories, with influences ranging from medieval villages to futuristic metropolises. Architecture as a subject includes a wide array of elements to study, with each architectural era further inferring its context and history through its design alone. However, in film and anime, all of the contexts behind a building’s design can be condensed into a single frame, powerful enough to tell a thousand stories.

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