Why do the James Bond villains always reside in the most exquisite homes?
“Lair”, a new book about iconic movie villain houses, knows the answer – and features some of the most thrilling 007 enemies!
Ernst Stavro Blofeld isn’t your Average Joe when it comes to housing. The iconic James Bond villain lives only in the most unreal real estates – be it inside a volcano, at a rotating mountain top or in a high-tech equipped desert crater. And he is not the only foe with exquisite lairs: From Stromberg’s underwater city to Drax’ space station almost all enemies of 007 come along with larger-than-life homes
Why is that so?
“Lair” – a new boutique art book about iconic movie villain homes – looks for the answer. The book by Tra Publishing is edited by architect Chad Oppenheim and highlights in total 15 villains’ lairs from 20th century movies. Included are iconic motion pictures like “Blade Runner 2049”, “Star Wars” and “The Incredibles” – but most prominently the lairs of four James Bond villains. You have Blofeld’s volcano from “You Only Live Twice”, Scaramanga’s island from “The Man With The Golden Gun”, Whyte’s California home from “Diamonds Are Forever” and Stromberg’s own Atlantis from “The Spy Who Loved Me”.
All lairs are shown in a visually stunning way: with set photos, movie stills and architectural drawings, all in silver ink on black paper. The images get completed by short texts and quotes from art directors and set designers like 007-allfather Ken Adams.
James Bond villains and their lairs – A look into the book:
The profiles of all movie hideouts are perfected by essays and discussions with architects and one large interview with late Ken Adams himself. Reading about his vision for the early James Bond movies is intriguing. Reading about everything that went wrong or chaotic during filming is outright funny.
The only real flaw of “Lair” is a shortage of information about the different lairs themselves. So picturesque the pages may be – die-hard fans might want to delve deeper into when and why a design was chosen for a certain villain. And what it tells about him.
At least in its main essay the book tries to give an general answer about why the bad guys live in the good houses. Joseph Rosa, director and CEO at Seattle’s Frye Museum, argues that modern architecture always corresponds with what is believed to be a feared future. The design of exposed concrete and glass walls is the “anathema to the American way of living”. Good guys are conservative guys, and they live in cozy homes with with curtains, fireplaces and wooden furniture. Their anxiety gets fed by an uncertain future: be it the Cold War back then, be it biological warfare, digitisation, surveillance or globalism now. James Bond villains are associated with that, their lairs correspond with the cruel future they are shaping.
James Bond himself is the contrast to that – a beacon of stability with a home, we all could live in. Sean Connery paints his walls pastel-green and puts old paintings on the wall. The kitchen in Roger Moores flat is decorated with ceramic tilework. And Daniel Craigs bachelor pad – in a more modern turn – is a Chelsea home with photographs that have yet to be put on the wall, but also with wooden tables and a red velvet sofa. It is your Average Joe’s apartment.
“Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains”, 296 pages, edited by Chad Oppenheim and Andrea Gollin, Tra Publishing
© HuntingBond (1, gallery), © 2015 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Danjaq, LLC, Eon Productions, and Columbia Pictures, Inc. (2)