Architecture in cinema: Distopiak

The Basque Architecture Institute kicks off 2026 with the second edition of its film series, this time entitled “Architecture in cinema: Distopiak” and dedicated to dystopias. The three sessions, which will be held in January and February, establish a direct dialogue with the current exhibition “EU-topias OU-topias.”

In this new edition of the series, the films have been selected by people from fields related to culture, cinema, and architectural dissemination. They are not necessarily architects, but rather people who, in one way or another, have a connection with dystopias or architectural and cinematographic dissemination.

January 9: When Mad Max materializes on the streets of Ukraine

Javier Espinosa Robles, correspondent and special correspondent for El Mundo in Ukraine, opens the series with Mad Max (George Miller, 1979). Mad Max portrays a self-destructive world in which a vengeful Australian police officer sets out to stop a violent gang of bikers.

Javier Espinosa Robles (Málaga, April 18, 1964) has worked as a correspondent for 35 years, specializing in covering conflicts and humanitarian crises. He has covered nearly 20 wars and worked in more than 120 countries around the world. For 25 years, he was a correspondent in London, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Rabat, Jerusalem, Beirut, Bangkok, and Beijing.

“The film immerses us in a dystopia where the present is progressively deteriorating. This vision resonates with the conflict in Ukraine, where war and the front lines have transformed the urban and rural environment, reflecting a war-torn reality of degradation.” — Javier Espinosa

Since the war began in February 2024, Ukrainian society has been forced to protect itself and adapt. On January 9, Espinosa will discuss how Ukrainian cities have changed to resist Russian attacks, to the point that the dystopian image of Mad Max has become a reality for thousands of Ukrainians today.

January 30: THX 1138, or how we already live in non-places

The series will continue on January 30th with Carmen Muñumer and the screening of THX 1138, the first feature film by renowned filmmaker George Lucas, which presents a dystopian world in the 25th century where life takes place underground.

With a refined and decidedly striking futuristic aesthetic based on austerity and minimalism, the film presents certain ideas that give rise to debate about today’s cities and societies, such as the growing standardization of spaces, non-places, the alienation of a life devoted exclusively to work, emotional and intellectual castration, and the loss of individuality within a community whose sole purpose is production.

Lucas’ film raises uncomfortable questions about today’s cities: do we already live in the neutral, dehumanized spaces that the filmmaker imagined more than 50 years ago?

Carmen Muñumer

Graduate in Art History and specialist in History and Aesthetics of Cinematography from the University of Valladolid. She has worked in various public and private institutions (Patio Herreriano Museum of Contemporary Spanish Art, Joaquín Díaz Foundation, Musée Paul Valéry) creating educational content and programming cultural events.

She is the author of the book Ciudades sin lugar. Utopías urbanas en la ciencia ficción (Cities Without Place: Urban Utopias in Science Fiction, Ediciones Asimétricas). She also contributes to collective publications and collaborates with Cinemanía magazine and other digital media. She recently participated in the 5th Mugak/ The Basque Country International Architecture Biennial.

February 20: Gattaca, when architecture explains the ethical dilemma

Andrew Niccol, 1997 | Presents: Jorge Corrales

The series “Architecture in cinema: distopiak” will conclude with Jorge Corrales presenting “Gattaca” (Andrew Niccol, 1997), a film in which architecture is not merely decoration but language. In this future of genetic selection, corporate buildings, workspaces, and urban design create a visual language that reflects the hierarchies of a society divided between “valid” and “invalid.”

Vincent (Ethan Hawke), born without genetic manipulation, must assume the identity of Jerome (Jude Law) to gain access to the space elite.

Fotografía: Nines Minguez

Jorge Corrales

Screenwriter, writer, and professor at the Escuela de Escritores de Madrid. With a degree in Hispanic Philology and a diploma in Screenwriting from ECAM, Corrales has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, where his cinematic stories go viral.

“Buildings, workplaces, and urban planning create the language to explain the ethical dilemma of the film: where humanity resides” says Corrales about a film that, according to him, turns every column, every corridor, and every straight line into an ideological statement.

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