Jacques Tati, “Playtime”; on the Modern Architecture Movement and Livable Cities

When examining the connection between cinema and architecture, it is evident that both sides feed off one another. While every film produced contributes visually and intellectually to architecture, it also creates an experimental environment for both space design and space perception. While cinema reproduces space according to fiction, it also becomes a tool for recording history as a witnessing document. Cinema can depict the political, social, and cultural evolution of a city, as well as the stages it has undergone in terms of physical reality. This cinematic documentary narrative has been the subject of numerous studies conducted in the field of cinema architecture. The 1967 comedy film Playtime was directed by French filmmaker Jacques Tati and is one of the films that is frequently mentioned and analyzed in literature studies that investigate the relationship between cinema and architecture. Playtime is a successful film that uses cinematic techniques to examine the economic and social transformation of a city over time.

The fictional Parisian city Tativille was created for the film's set. The film deals with the alienation of Monsieur Hulot, a charlatan character identified with Tati, in his modern urban experience, utilizing sarcastic language and Tati's distinctive sense of humor. In this paper, the spaces of modern architecture and the lifestyle were discussed through place-making, spatial organization, and perception of space.