film and architecture section: Studio Ghibli imaginary architecture: Laputa: Castle in the Sky by Hayao Miyazaki, architecture and film appreciation

category: Architecture and Film, Imaginary architectures of studio Ghibli
film index: 73 (Ghibli index 11)
relationship with architecture:
one of the most imaginative architectural spaces designed by Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki. the story evolves around the myth of a castle that floats and eventually it is both "flying" and "architecture" that prevails beyond their physical presence. miyazaki skillfyully handles architecture of the sky as well as architecture beneath earth. Overwhelming and a must see.

film: Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta)
director: Hayao Miyazaki
writers: Hayao Miyazaki
production: Japan, Studioin Ghibli
release: August 2, 1986
playtime: 126 min
visual: colour
Language: Japanese
Subtitles:
Genre: animation, fantasy

reference: raiden-rs.blogspot.com, avaxhome.ws, warezws.com

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Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Tenkū no Shiro Rapyuta) (re-titled Castle in the Sky for release in the United States) is a 1986 film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is the first film created and released by Studio Ghibli. Laputa: Castle in the Sky won the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1986.

A young boy stumbles into a mysterious girl who floats down from the sky. This film is set in a Victorian era that might have been, influenced by the visions of writers such as Jules Verne. As Pazu, the apprentice of the engineer who maintains a mine's elevator machinery, carries his boss's dinner back to the mine, an unconscious pigtailed girl floats down from the sky into his arms. This girl, Sheeta, and her magical levitation-stone pendant hold the key to a mysterious, mythical sky-castle known as Laputa. Sheeta and Pazu must flee from both air-pirates, who seek the sky kingdom for its legendary treasure, and the army, led by a government agent with his own mysterious agenda for Laputa.

Laputa is credited by Colonel Muska with having been behind Biblical events and sacred Hindu legends — thus tying the world of Laputa to our Earth (and to western European civilisation) — as do the medieval castle architecture of parts of the fort on the ground; the Gothic and half-timbered buildings in the village near the fort; the British mining-town architecture, clothing, and even ground vehicles of Pazu's homeland; and the Victorian ambiance of the pirate ship.

The flying machines depicted in the opening scenes of the film are similar to Leonardo da Vinci's early drawings of a wooden helicopter.

Some of the architecture seen in the film was inspired by a Welsh mining town. Miyazaki first visited Wales in 1984 and witnessed the miners' strike firsthand. He returned to the country in 1986 to prepare for Laputa, which he said reflected his Welsh experience: "I was in Wales just after the miners' strike. I really admired the way the miners' unions fought to the very end for their jobs and communities, and I wanted to reflect the strength of those communities in my film." Miyazaki told The Guardian, "I admired those men, I admired the way they battled to save their way of life, just as the coal miners in Japan did. Many people of my generation see the miners as a symbol; a dying breed of fighting men. Now they are gone."

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092067/
Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_in_the_Sky

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