#andor set design

[someinstant]

So lets talk about the design of Ferrix, shall we? I mean, not the physical set qua set, which is amazing and I just sort of want to live there. But rather, let's consider the actual design style at work, okay?

Okay. So that's the hotel in Episode 5, yeah? The one that Blevin is clearing out for the dude who wants to be a Prefect to use as his headquarters, right?

That, my friends, is a gorgeous variation on Bauhaus style. Look at those awesome curved curtain balconies, the round windows, the repeated geometric forms. Honestly, it makes me think of some photographs I've seen of Bauhaus-style apartment blocks in Tel Aviv.

Bauhaus architecture is a celebration of art, craft, form and function-- meant to be livable and practical, and also thoughtful, visually coherent, and accessible to folks of all means. It was a form of architecture that came out of the ashes of World War I in the brief, explosively creative period of the Weimar Republic.

I absolutely love that this is the architectural form ANDOR is using for Ferrix-- it's working class. Deceptively plain, until you appreciate the sweep of the windows, the thoughtfulness and accessibility of space.

I especially love it, given its history. Because the Bauhaus movement, which began in the Weimar Republic, was outlawed under the Third Reich as part of what was identified as "degenerate art," because its emphasis on internationalism and working-class accessibility was deemed too communist and un-German.

I mean, it's not a freaking accident that the set designer, Luke Hull, decided to go with an architectural style outlawed by a fascist regime, yeah? Ugh, it's all so thoughtful.

I'm deeply interested to see what happens with the direct occupation of Ferrix in future episodes-- we're clearly headed back there at some point, and I'm interested to see what, if anything, happens to the physical space.

(Next time on SomeInstant Decides to Obsess About Architecture, we can talk about the Brutalism on Coruscant! IT'LL BE FUN!)*

_

*Edited to add in the link to the Brutalism discussion, because y'all are bad influences.

[karnpuffs]

Syril's bedroom It's a small space, with odd angles, lit only for a few seconds by sunlight - but it's only a reflection from opposite larger buildings. Still, that is considered a luxury on Coruscant. It's not really a home, but a storage room for old memories, a dark hiding place, full of sooo many little secrets, hidden and locked behind small closet doors. The room seems tidy, but even his mother's cleaning doesn't change the fact that the walls are slowly turning yellow, like aging toys. The neatly lined up trooper figures are the only personal items Syril dares to put on display. Perhaps he enjoyed playing with them as a child, imagining himself a leader. But now they probably just remind him that playing soldier isn't as much fun when he's responsible for human lives. Being a leader isn't something one just turns on and off.

Bonus:

soooo originally I was just going to do a 3D rendering of Syril's mushroom lamp, and then I thought, ok, now I might as well try to recreate the wall with the window to use as a background.

But how do I even make a window with rounded corners??

Many Blender/Daz3D tutorials later, at 3am on a Monday morning, I ended up creating the whole bedroom...

...and had so much fun adding all the little buttons and lights and weird angles of the walls, that I just couldn't stop. Of course, I also had to include a bowl of cereal, a brown suit, Syril's "private box" and the Rotating-Blorbo-projector™.

I'm kinda proud because it's the first time I've ever created a whole room! A bit of improvisation was necessary, though, because you can't see all corners of the room in the show - so I went for the style of a Nakagin capsule tower apartment.

I was lucky enough to find some clone trooper armor that I scaled down to make Syril's cute little trooper figures.

[eruherdiriel]

The funniest part about Andor (and Rogue One) being objectively some of the best made Star Wars media is how Tony Gilroy has said he's not as interested in the Star Wars of it all. He's using an incredibly popular medium to tell a story he finds intriguing. It's hilarious on the Star Wars end (that someone less concerned with the lore of it all makes something this good), but it's also funny because the Andor team, in many ways, has created the most Star Wars content ever.

At its core, Star Wars is a political space adventure. Yes, there's lightsabers, cool battles, cheesy lines, and love stories, but the politics/philosophy/worldview has always provided the substance. The original trilogy is about overthrowing a fascist imperial government. It's about a scrappy group of people who shouldn't even know each other banding together to rebel. The prequels, love them or hate them, are mired in the politics of executive overreach, starting a war for more-than-usual questionable reasons, and the failure of institutions that corrode from within (the Jedi Order and the Galactic Senate). The sequels, again, love them or hate them, are about how history rhymes. In the wake of victory over imperialism, former rebels fail to stop a new fascistic power from forming in the decades after the war. It's about the repetition of mistakes. It's the US invading the Middle East decades after failed, horrofic interference in Vietnam and Korea. It's the current rise of fascism and anti-Semitism in Europe, decades after World War II and the Holocaust.

Maybe sometimes it takes people who have less reverence for a Thing to truly flesh out the best parts of that. Because Andor has gone deeper into the politics than we've ever seen (some themes it's touched on: police brutality, the prison industrial complex, fractured political movements, who suffers the most under a tyrannical system, immigration and displacement, exploitation of people and resources). It's the also most human and grounded Star Wars has ever been, probably because it doesn't have to worry so much about the flashy stuff. Andor has a fully realized message and complicated characters, and it's incredibly captivating.

[celinamarniss]

Mon Mothma's apartments on Coruscant in episode 4 of Andor

[mountainmagpie]

All the production design and costume design for Andor is impeccable, but for me the aesthetics of Mon Mothma’s home and her clothing are particularly pleasing. They fit both her and the facade she is playing so perfectly while also being so incredibly beautiful that I wish I could personally thank Luke Hull and Michael Wilkinson for the work they did on this show because they really did help make it the best Star Wars show yet.

[zeb-z]

“You’re trapped. There’s no pleasure in saying this but you’re going nowhere”

or

if I think about how the shape of the empires cog is the shape of the prison is the shape of the doorways in mon mothmas apartment for too long I go crazy

version w/o lineart under cut

[ireallyamabear]

Syril Karn's home (Star Wars Andor S1, 2022)

Korben Dallas' apartment (The Fifth Element, 1997)

[starwarsgay]

I just finished rewatching rogue one (cause of andor) and holy shit it’s a good movie. I don’t think I’ve watched it since I saw it in theaters but goddamn did they do amazing with it.

[laz-laz-ace-pilot]

Me, whispering to myself: Don’t be pretentious about Andor. Don’t be pretentious about Andor. Don’t be pretentious about Andor...

Me, after revisiting exactly one (1) Andor clip: Star Wars is a franchise but the Andor trilogy (Andor S1, S2, Rogue One) is Art

[meandmyechoes]

anyway shoutout to the blue chao mein guy

[ziparumpazoo]

Nakagain Capsule Tower (noritataka minami )

Syril Karn on Coruscant (Andor)

[someinstant]

So I turned my ankle taking out my trash this evening and it's swelling up beautifully-- I did a number on that ankle back in college and it regularly betrays me because of the Dumb Things I did without seeking medical attention when I was twenty-- so I've decided to prop it up on the couch and ice the hell out of it and watch the special features on my ANDOR Blu-Ray.

Here's a short list of Cool Things I've learned:

Diego says that it was important to show Cassian being nice to B2EMO in the first bit of episode one, because you needed to see Cassian show care and kindness for someone-- because he's not a particularly awesome guy at the beginning.

The set designer for the Andor house on Ferix made macrame door curtains out of metal scrap and bolts because they wanted a 1970s feel with an industrial twist. Also, the set designer pronounces "macrame" with the accent on the second syllable, and I've never heard it that way before? British folks, is that standard on your fair isle? Because hereabouts it's MAC-rah-may, or maybe mac-rah-MAY if you're fancy. But it sure as hell isn't mah-CRAHM-eh.

Just so many gorgeous shots of Ferix, man. And all the costumes and details-- it looks SO GOOD, even when it's clearly just a set and not the finished version. The actors all clearly adored working in the physical space.

During the Aldhani arc, the Aldhani rebel cell actors worked extensively together with the director to train, rehearse, and develop chemistry-- and they deliberately didn't bring Diego Luna in until they were ready to shoot for real. So the Aldhani squad had this rapport and inside jokes and relationships, and THEN they dropped Luna in so he would feel properly like an outsider.

And they did the SAME THING on the Narkina 5 arc. All the prisoners rehearsed together well before they brought in Luna, so he wouldn't have the same understanding of the space or tools or way the actors related to each other. Love it. Really smart decision, and it paid off.

The visual reference for what the Eye would look like when you were flying through it was a close-up of a human iris, and actually-- yeah. They did that really, really well.

They made the prison on Narkina 5 the same shape as the planetary shield generator on Scarif, and I have no idea how I didn't notice that before.

Stellan Skarsgard was clearly DELIGHTED by Luthen's big speech in "Nobody's Listening." He talks about how when he read it, he was like, "Absolutely, this is the dilemma, isn't it? How far can you go in the name of change?," followed immediately by, "Now, how in the world do I SAY that?!"

The musicians in "Rix Road" are really playing on set-- they did ADR over top for sound quality but in order to give the actors the right feel, the musicians are really playing and the instruments all are fully functional. The musicians are a mix of studio musicians who are on the final recording and some talented amateurs who also work as background actors, so you get the imperfect, community-band style tuning, which is what they wanted.

And there's a bunch of other cool stuff, but my ankle is throbbing, so I'm going to go take a painkiller and go to bed I think.

[karnpuffs]

i hate this spoon.

i bet it's some late 70s plastic kid's spoon

it simply lacks that certain pleasant weight of a metal spoon

it's too thick and doesn't have enough surface area for a satisfying spoonful of cereal

i hate it

[matt-disaster]

Catching up on Andor and I don’t know if anyone has noticed this before but the ISB building on Coruscant totally looks like a giant asshole.

Like a literal asshole:

This is the best establishing shot I could find on google so you have to use your imagination. But seen from above it would probably look a little something like this:

And to be honest I believe this to be 100% intentional. Star Wars can be many things and Andor has shown that, I would say, the most of all the Disney era productions. But one thing Star Wars has never been is subtle.

So yeah, amazing design work, whoever did that. Keep up the good work!

[celinamarniss]

Maarva's indoor garden in Andor episode seven

[rowrowronnie]

andor is fucking incredible, it’s almost hard to believe it’s star wars with how grounded and real it is. all the cinematography, acting, is top notch, like- there are so many shots of intimacy! that isn’t something we normally get from this type of media.

like this shot of timm and bix, where we as the viewers are almost peeking into this moment between them.

or this shot of karn, the loneliness of it all, how he’s being boxed in by his room, his entire face shadowed even though there are calm yellow orange lights filtering in.

it’s such a contrast to the normal space story world we’re used to; choosing to focus more on the characters rather than the fantastical aspects. i really appreciate that. i love when characters get their time to be human and realized! what a cool show!!