Review article
https://doi.org/10.31522/p.33.2(70).10
Space as Experience: A Comparative Reading of Architecture and Film
Nina Bačun
orcid.org/0009-0002-4477-8001
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Architecture
*
Alan Kostrenčić
orcid.org/0000-0002-9804-9544
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Architecture
Ivana Tutek
orcid.org/0009-0006-8165-9545
; University of Zagreb Faculty of Architecture
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
This paper explores how we perceive, conceptualize, and ultimately construct architecture by examining the evolving definition of architectural space through its dialogue with cinematic space. While architectural space has historically shifted in meaning alongside changes in perceptual and theoretical frameworks, this study argues that these transformations become more intelligible when viewed through the lens of film, whose experiential and temporal nature closely mirrors human perception of the external world. Drawing on insights from film theory, the research seeks to enrich the understanding of contemporary architecture and refine the terminology used to describe spatial experience. Cinema serves not merely as an analytical tool but as a parallel medium in which architecture actively participates in shaping narrative, atmosphere, and psychological orientation; even in the absence of human figures, the camera’s movement through space evokes emotion, memory, and embodied presence. The paper is organized into three parts: the first traces the historical and theoretical development of architectural and cinematic space as intertwined conceptual constructs; the second examines how film mobilizes architectural form to generate atmosphere, symbolic meaning, and affective charge; and the third discusses a design workshop in which architectural drawing functiones as a mediating device for translating spatial insights between film and architecture, demonstrating how the interplay between these media can open new ways of thinking about, experiencing, and redefining space.
Keywords
architectural space; cinematic space; dialogue diagram; spatial experience
Hrčak ID:
342451
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2025.
Visits: 444 *