15 Locations That Could Be in a Wes Anderson Film
19 October, 2017
The
whimsical cinematic worlds of Wes Anderson are instantly
recognisable on the silver screen thanks to candy colours, exacting
symmetry and faded grandeur – and now we’ve tracked them down IRL.
From The Royal Tenenbaums to The Grand Budapest Hotel, these cult
films’ aesthetics are yours for the taking if you know where to
look. If life imitates art then it’s a Wes Anderson world we want
to live in.
Eastern Columbia House
Los Angeles, US
The concept of time, or forgotten time, is a founding
characteristic of Wes Anderson films. His obsession with nostalgia
and bygone eras feature across his film catalogue, suggesting that
he too is a man born in the wrong time period. Rumoured to house
Jonny Depp and John Stamos, the Art Deco beacon in
downtown LA with its statement clock and rooftop pool is a
glorious testimony to the roaring twenties from afar, but get up
close and you’ll find a neglected landmark.
Somebody’s Office…
Portland, Oregon
A distinct lack of technology is apparent in many Anderson
masterpieces. Blume’s office in Rushmore is all things analogue,
there are switchboard telephones in Moonrise Kingdom and Mr Fox has
a trusty dictaphone. We’re not sure about giving up our MacBooks,
but the retro phone and kitsch décor at this home office in
Portland might stop us from screening so many calls.
bar
Bar Luce
Milan, Italy
Many of Anderson’s sets are 2D optical illusions which have been
expertly (and symmetrically) shot, but Bar Luce in
Milan is the real deal. Housed within the fashion house concept
building Fondazione Prada, the vintage Formica tables, central
clock and retro pinball machines create Anderson’s distinctive
storybook touch.
shopping
Pfunds Molkerir
Dresden, Germany
hotel
The Graduate Hotel
Mississippi, US
hotel
Little Chalet Motel
Manitoba, Canada
Húsavík, Iceland
Iceland’s dramatic glaciers have featured in many Hollywood film
sets but nothing compares to this hallmark fuse with Wes Anderson
art. Photographed by Reddit user Milonade, many have asked if
this enviably symmetrical snap came from the man himself.
hotel
Gold Crest Motel
New Jersey, US
II LO High School
Poznań, Poland
Soft pastels dominate Wes Anderson colour wheels and this swathe
of candy floss colours strongly resembles the shoot out scene in
The Grand Budapest Hotel. Safe to say our school definitely did not
look like this.
restaurant
Sketch
London, UK
Featured on endless
Instagrammable London pages for their retro egg-shaped toilets
(even Kylie Jenner couldn’t resist a snap), Sketch
gives us yet another reason to sit down and sip tea out of
quintessential china. Their bubblegum-pink tearoom, multicoloured
tiled flooring and square-set seating ticks all the necessary
Anderson aesthetics.
thingstodo
Schloss Moritzburg
Saxony, Germany
Address
Schloßallee,
01468 Moritzburg,
Germany
hotel
Ostel Hostel
Berlin, Germany
Stay in a time-warp museum where you’re encouraged to touch
everything you come across. This Berlin hostel
overflows with faux plotted plants and lava lamps that appear to
have been lifted straight out 1970s Germany… or the prop cupboard
of Rushmore.
thingstodo
City Palace
Jaipur, India
Address
Tulsi Marg, Gangori Bazaar,
J.D.A. Market,
Pink City,
Jaipur,
Rajasthan 302002,
India
Flam Railway
Flam, Norway
Constructed from a window frame mounted on a plywood platform,
Gustave H took to the Zubrowka mountains to escape his impending
imprisonment. Slightly better designed, but offering equally as
dramatic view, is the Norwegian
passenger train that weaves through waterfalls and along the
Flam fjord.
hotel
Hotel Bélvedère
Furkapassstrasse, Switzerland
Closed due to the rapid melting of the adjacent Rhone Glacier,
the pitstop Hotel Bélvedère windy roads and
symmetrical windows (obviously) offer a fanciful glimpse into the
mind of an Anderson location scout. We’re available anytime Wes,
anytime.
Address
Furkapassstrasse,
Switzerland