The wrong house : the architecture of Alfred Hitchcock : [published in conjunction with the Exhibition The Wrong House, Suspense in Architecture : Alfred Hitchcock, 20 September - 25 November 2007 in deSingel International Arts Campus Antwerp

Hitchcock's films provide a substantial and intriguing collection of architectural aspects - from his claustrophobic, single set films, such as 'Rope' and 'Rear Window' and his use of famous monuments for climatic scenes - to the characteristic use of the house as a labyrinth and trap, and of architectural motifs such as stairs and windows to develop narrative structures and typical themes. Author Steven Jacobs examines the 'master of suspense's' architecture and the myriad of interpretations and issues that it raises, and in addition also discusses at length a series of domestic buildings with the help of reconstructed floor plans. In the films of Alfred Hitchcock, architecture plays an important role. Having worked as a set designer in the early 1920s, Hitchcock remained intensely concerned with the art direction of his films. In addition, the master of suspense made some remarkable single-set films, such as Rope and Rear Window, that explicitly deal with the way the confines of the set relate to those of the architecture on screen. Spaces of confinement also turn up in the Gothic plot of films in which the house is presented as an uncanny labyrinth and a trap. Furthermore, it became a Hitchcock hallmark to use famous monuments as the location for a climactic scene. Last but not least, Hitchcock used architectural motifs such as stairs and windows, which are closely connected to Hitchcockian narrative structures (suspense) or typical Hitchcock themes (voyeurism). Apart from dealing with these issues extensively, Steven Jacobs discusses at length a series of domestic buildings with the help of a number of reconstructed floor plans especially made for this publication. Steven Jacobs is an art historian who has published widely on the photographic and cinematic representations of architecture, cities, and landscapes. He currently lectures on film history at Sint Lukas College of Art Brussels and the Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, and on urban studies at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Architecture plays an important role In the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Steven Jacobs devotes lengthy discussion to a series of domestic buildings with the help of a number of reconstructed floor plans made specially for this book