When it comes to expensive artforms, architecture undoubtedly tops the list (even if the artistic merits of some of the absolute priciest buildings are sometimes dubious). But what may not be so obvious is that many of architecture’s iconic works have been completed on budgets not so dissimilar to the work of another artistic industry: filmmaking. Each with their own set of merits, works from both categories have transcended time, confirming that (in most cases) they have more than returned on their initial investment.
To illustrate this point, we’ve complied a list of buildings from eras past, paired with movies of similar budgets completed in the same calendar year. Which buildings or movies have contributed the most based on their initial costs?
1939
Building: Johnson Wax Building / Frank Lloyd Wright
$1.2 million
Movie: Wizard of Oz
$2.7 million
1952
Building: Lever House / SOM
$6 million
Movie: The Greatest Show on Earth
$4 million
1956
Building: Price Tower / Frank Lloyd Wright
$1.25 million
Movie: Love Me Tender
$1 million
1959
Building: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum / Frank Lloyd Wright
$3 million
Movie: Some Like It Hot
$3 million
1967
Building: Habitat 67 / Moshe Safdie
$22 million
Movie: Casino Royale
$12 million
1982
Building: National Assembly Building of Bangladesh / Louis Kahn
$32 million
Movie: Blade Runner
$28 million
1989
Building: Wexner Center for the Arts / Peter Eisenman
$50 million
Movie: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
$55 million
1997
Building: Guggenheim Bilbao / Frank Gehry
$100 million
Movie: The Fifth Element
$95 million
Building: Kunsthaus Bregenz / Peter Zumthor
$22 million
Movie: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
$18 million
1999
Building: Jewish Museum Berlin / Daniel Liebeskind
$56 million
Movie: The Green Mile
$60 million
2001
Building: Sendai Mediatheque / Toyo Ito
$130 million
Movie: Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
$125 million
2004
Building: Seattle Central Library / OMA + LMN
$166 million
Movie: The Polar Express
$170 million
2007
Building: San Francisco Federal Building / Morphosis
$144 million
Movie: I am Legend
$150 million
Building: New Museum / SANAA
$50 million
Movie: Grindhouse
$53 million
2008
Building: Watercube National Swimming Centre / PTW Architects
$140 million
Movie: The Incredible Hulk
$138 million
2009
Building: Aqua Tower / Studio Gang
$300 million
Movie: Avatar
$425 million
2010
Building: Columbia University Northwest Corner Building / Davis Brody Bond + Rafael Moneo + Moneo Brock Studio
$200 million
Movie: Tron: Legacy
$200 million
2011
Building: The Dali Museum / HOK
$36 million
Movie: Midnight in Paris
$30 million
Building: HARPA Concert Hall / Henning Larsen Architects
$150 million
Movie: Thor
$150 million
2012
Building: Heydar Aliyev Center / Zaha Hadid Architects
$250 million
Movie: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
$250 million
2013
Building: Danish National Maritime Museum / BIG
$55 million
Movie: Captain Phillips
$55 million
2014
Building: Biomuseo / Frank Gehry
$60 million
Movie: The Lego Movie
$60 million
2015
Building: The Broad Museum / Diller, Scofidio + Renfro
$140 million
Movie: Mad Max: Fury Road
$150 million
Overall budgets for buildings can be difficult to measure – numbers are based on total cost of construction. Movie budgets have been found at The Numbers. Buildings not listed in US dollars have been converted using the FXTOP Historical Exchange Rates Calculator.
