Narratives of class and home: the visualization and meaning of mass housing complexes in urban science-fiction dystopias in film and TV

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the urban, architectural and spatial mise-en-scène of mass housing in science-fiction film dystopias of the 20th and 21st centuries. These films reflect real-life experiences with mass housing and are thus part of a “critical discourse on what the home is and what it should be” (Taunton, 2009). The authors therefore investigate whether patterns of visualization and meaning occur and whether they reflect real-world concerns, complaints and conflicts. Design/methodology/approach The analysis focuses on a purposive sample of 22 films and 2 television series, selected based on specific criteria. A semiological approach is used to interpret the symbolic meaning of urban, architectural and spatial settings in science fiction cinema while considering cultural semiotics, according to which symbolic meanings relate to cultural contexts. Findings Whereas the visualization of mass housing in the early film Things to Come (1936) reflects the utopian aspirations of a modern collectiveness, a dystopian mise-en-scène has prevailed since the late 1960s. The major themes are class segregation, human isolation and the absence of “home.” Initially established as a utopian motif, mass housing thus underwent a postmodern semiotic transformation, reflecting postmodern critiques of modern architecture and urbanism. Originality/value This development can be associated with the established interpretation that science-fiction films are best understood as critical commentaries on contemporary society. However, while extensive scholarship exists on mass housing and the city and similarly on architecture and the city in film, the interpretation of mass housing in science-fiction film remains under-researched.