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Vancouver's Brutalist Fortress: Facebook's Cinematic Double
9 Oct
Summary
- Vancouver campuses stood in for Facebook's headquarters in "The Social Reckoning."
- Brutalist architecture used to convey a sense of grandeur and control.
- Filmmakers aimed for a vibe, not an exact replica of Meta's offices.
The film "The Social Reckoning" utilized Vancouver's university campuses, specifically Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, to depict Facebook's headquarters. Production designer Jon Hutman sought to capture the essence of the tech giant without creating an exact replica of its Menlo Park offices.
Hutman selected campuses for their layouts, designed to centralize people, mirroring the scale of Facebook's actual headquarters. The brutalist architectural style of these locations was employed to create a "Fortress Zuckerberg" vibe, contrasting with the youthful energy of employees and the grandeur of the institution.
Specific locations, like Zuckerberg's office, were designed to feel enclosed despite modern elements, reflecting the film's portrayal of fear and pressure. Even a cafeteria space at Simon Fraser University was used to emphasize scale and the relationship between interior and exterior environments.
The design challenge was to balance the company's youthfulness and relevance with its immense scale. The film, "The Social Reckoning," is now playing in theaters.
