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While The Brutalist has garnered critical acclaim and multiple Oscar wins, its distinct visual language stems from the meticulous work of production designer Judy Becker. A long-time admirer of Brutalist architecture, Becker was instrumental in shaping the film’s environments, ensuring that Adrien Brody’s character, László Tóth, felt like a true architectural visionary.
Becker’s designs had to convince audiences that László, a Bauhaus-trained Holocaust survivor, was a master of his craft. The film’s two most significant sets—a striking modernist library and an imposing structure called The Institute—serve as narrative and symbolic pillars of the protagonist’s journey.
Building a Vision in Hungary
Despite the film’s under $10 million budget, Becker crafted immersive, architecturally rich spaces. The library, a centerpiece of the film, was inspired by a Hungarian mansion’s glass winter garden that Becker encountered while location scouting. Her idea to replace the glass with towering wooden bookshelves created a forced perspective effect that transformed the space into something iconic.
However, sourcing materials in Hungary proved challenging. “There’s almost no wood because of the war in Ukraine,” Becker explained. “They get their wood from Russia, and they can’t get any. So it was very, very, very expensive and hard to find.” Despite these constraints, the team built a library that not only looked authentic but felt essential to László’s character arc.
The film’s most ambitious architectural feat, The Institute, had to communicate both László’s ambition and his haunting past. Becker referenced concentration camp structures in her initial designs, subtly incorporating elements that reflected the protagonist’s trauma. Adrien Brody praised Becker’s ability to translate the script’s emotional depth into physical space, saying, “She not only created the structure that László envisions but also somehow materialized into this structure all of the nuances in Brady’s and Mona’s writing that speak to his journey.”
Art and Taste: A Story Told Through Design
Beyond architecture, Becker also played a key role in developing the aesthetic world of Guy Pearce’s character, Harrison Lee Van Buren, the film’s wealthy yet sinister antagonist. His home needed to exude both power and curated taste, leading Becker to incorporate Cubist sculptures, custom artwork, and high-end furniture sourced locally in Hungary.
“There are a lot of unusual pieces around the house,” director Brady Corbet noted. “That’s something Judy really thought about—how to establish that this character has real taste, but also the money to buy it.”
By merging historical influences, architectural storytelling, and practical ingenuity, Judy Becker shaped The Brutalist into a visually immersive experience. Her work not only gave weight to László Tóth’s world but also helped elevate the film to the level of an Oscar-winning masterpiece—one built, quite literally, on the foundations of design.
Source: THR
