Clockwork Spaces - The Environments of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange: Municipal Flat Block 18-A Linear North

Welcome to Clockwork Spaces - my series on the environments of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Each entry in the series takes a look at one of the iconic locales from the film, detailing my thoughts and analysis on the distinctive spaces that characterise Kubrick's cult classic. 

In the discussion of Brutalism on screen, there's arguably never been a film that encapsulates the architectural style and its failings as succinctly as than in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 sci-fi dystopian thriller, A Clockwork Orange. A visual masterstroke of cinematic dystopia conveyed through architecture and interiors that richly illustrate the film's socio-political climate and distinct characterisation. In A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick and production designer, John Barry create a world characterised by brutal and inhospitable cinematic landscapes that juxtapose against garish modish interiors reflecting a nightmare hell-scape full of the dichotomies of the frightening new age the film takes place within. By understanding these environments, one can ascertain some of the film's thematic tenants and ideas so in this essay (of sorts), as part of an ongoing series, I seek to examine what the environments of Municipal Flat Block 18-A Linear North convey about the film's thematic ideas and characters. 

Thamesmead 

Thamesmead was built in the late 1960s by the Greater London Council (GLC) as part of Britain's post-war commitment to creating new social housing. It was one of the city's most ambitious housing projects, viewed as a visionary scheme set to transform the lives of its inhabitants; relocating them from Victorian inner city slums to a modernist space-age town on the outer regions of London. Thamesmead was to be a new utopian vision of city living, a daring and experimental scheme with the potential to become a model for social housing in 21st century Britain.

The original development was modelled on Swedish housing complexes which placed great importance on the supposedly calming influence of water. By placing housing schemes next to bodies of water, it was thought to have reduced criminal activity such as vandalism and other forms of anti social behaviour. Therefore, Thamesmead was set on the Thames' Erith marshes and built around a system of artificial lakes and canals. One of the scheme's most notable aspects is its marina which prominently features in one of A Clockwork Orange's most iconic scenes on Binsey Walk in which Alex punishes Dim for his insubordination - the violence of Alex's actions contrasted against the stillness of the water that surrounds them. 

Thamesmead was a strikingly futuristic development characterised by its distinctive Brutalist architecture; a series of elevated walkways, concrete terraces, town houses and looming tower blocks. The estate attracted interest from an architectural perspective but also from a sociological one; an experiment in urban planning and its effects on its inhabitants. Despite initially offering an optimistic vision of future living, the post-war development soon fell into disarray, succumbing to the ills of social deprivation. The development lacked transport links and the residents became isolated in the scheme which lacked essential spaces like shop, banks and recreational facilities. In later decades, Brutalism fell out of favour and the housing schemes of post-war Britain became architectural blights; weathered by the harsh Northern European climate, ad-hoc construction and social ills of the period. 

A Clockwork Orange possesses a strange, prescient quality predicating the social problems and architectural failings that would befall the scheme. As stated, at the time of construction Thamesmead was a visionary scheme but Kubrick's vision of the location as a dystopian environment plagued by crime and social deprivation would prove to become somewhat true in its later years. In A Clockwork Orange, the architectural present becomes the architectural past - a seemingly futuristic location at the time of filming in the Winter of 1970 -1971 - now feels outdated. The flat block that contains the DeLarge's dwelling seems like it belongs to another time period, as antiquated as the scenes in the classical grand murals on the building's lobby walls. Thamesmead and the Southmere Estate feel familiar but also distant, remnants of a life that was once hopeful now tarnished by the toil of a much darker, bleaker time. The futuristic designs appear tired and eroded and the deprivation of the Thamesmead estate suggests it has been some time since it was a modern construction. Kubrick and Barry wanted to choose locations that were futuristic yet familiar suggesting that A Clockwork Orange's dystopia is not too far in the distant future. One could perhaps infer that in Alex's parent's youthful years, the scheme was exciting and hopeful but has now become  synonymous with the social ills of the time - the inhospitable environment representative of a cruel and unfeeling society facilitated by a totalitarian government. 

The Estate (Southmere Estate) 

Our first glimpse of the estate Alex resides in occurs after he leaves the Korova Milkbar in the wake of the home invasion in which Alex and his droogs terrorise Mr Alexander and rape his wife at their countryside home. The Alexander's house is located in the countryside and is settled amongst a tranquil Japanese zen garden with a water feature and stepping stones. It is an impressive construction with large open windows/doors, a slanted roof and a striking distinctive form. In comparison, Municipal Flat Block 18-A Linear North is located on the outer reaches of the city and is an environment lacking any sort of natural elements bar a spindly barren tree in a concrete planter. The estate features a vast concrete concourse littered with rubbish bags, discarded furniture and cardboard boxes. A never ending desolate urban sprawl trashed and in a state of decay. 

In A Clockwork Orange, the architecture that populates Alex's home turf is functional and utilitarian - reflecting the film's themes surrounding conformity*. As Alex nonchalantly walks through the estate at night, we view a series of similar constructions that presumably stretch on far beyond what we see in frame. The imposing brutalist buildings on the estate lack ornamentation and are minimalist in style; the housing afforded to the working classes - a stark contrast to the home of F Alexander. The lack of ornamentation and/or natural elements suggests a lack of regard at governmental and council level for community spaces and stimulation. Architecture in A Clockwork Orange exists in its most basic sense, as a functional shell to facilitate the basic needs of its inhabitants. Visual stimulation and recreational and natural spaces are not viewed as important, what is important is architecture as a means to keep the worker working. 

*The film's fashions further serve to highlight this idea of conformity with characters frequently appearing to be interchangeable; only identifiable via minute differences in headwear - see the hats of the various gangs depicted or the wigs of the older female characters that populate the film.

The Lobby

The lobby of Flat Block 18-A Linear North is, like its exterior, dilapidated and in a state of decay. A bra hangs from the staircase, a plant is strewn across the floor, broken furniture lies in pieces and rubbish is scattered across every surface. The ramshackle state of the lobby conveys a sense of lawlessness and unrest, suggesting that other criminal gangs like Alex and his Droogs are at work. Like the streets outside, the building appears deserted with no signs of life. Upon entering the space, Alex attempts to call the lift but it too, is broken. Realising this, he pulls at the lift doors and kicks them before heading for the stairs, once again showing a complete lack of disregard for his environment. One could infer that the dilapidated, uncared for lobby shows a lack of social cohesion and community - where people have little regard for shared spaces or one another. At the time of its construction, the Thamesmead estate was viewed as a solution to the social ills born of inadequate slum housing yet in A Clockwork Orange, these environments have become harborers of social malaise, anti social behaviour and criminal activity. Contrasted against the large and open plan home of The Alexanders, Municipal Flat Block 18-A Linear North reveals the social disparities and the injustices that plague the world the film is set in - where the elites live a life of leisure and comfort whereas the working classes are indoctrinated into a gruelling system that frames work in itself as a prize (see the headline in The Daily Mirror read by Mr DeLarge that views the purchase of a car via own earnings as a prize). A Clockwork Orange's fictional reimagining of these spaces would prove to be strangely prophetic of the social deprivation and crime that would soon befall the estate in later years. In A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick takes a utopian vision of new communities and spaces for living and turns them into a squalid, cold and unforgiving brutalist hell-scape. 

The wall the lift is recessed into is painted with a Classical Grecian style mural depicting a majestic scene of workers toiling away on a river bank. The mural immediately draws comparison with the murals of the Soviet era that glorified the Soviet worker, propagating the importance of one's labour and devotion to the state. The artwork gives the spectator an insight into the society that the film takes place in, one that values individuals by their output and who perform their societal function like clockwork, without question and without dissent. Figures of authority like PR Deltoid and the Prison Officer are loyal to the state and are tasked with forcing conforming on others. One's humanity is of little importance rather, their ability to assimilate into society and to become a cog in the machine. Yet the figure at the centre of the mural dominates the frame, positioned in a powerful stance, adorned with a bowler hat that has been graffitied onto the mural. This character at the centre of the piece naturally draws comparison to Alex and more tellingly, he is flanked by three other characters who adopt similar stances, holding tools and apparatus that resemble weapons whilst the surrounding figures toil away in the background. The Alex like figure depicted as a Grecian ideal makes one think of the most famous Alex, Alexander the Great - somewhat of a namesake of our protagonist - Alex DeLarge. 

The scene is set on a waterfront with factories, industrial buildings and other constructions across the water which bares comparison with Thamesmead itself - in the scene in which Alex attacks Dim one can see buildings across the waterfront in a modern reimagining of the scene depicted within the mural. Transposed over the image of the buildings is "Mr Chad" a humorous character from World War II that was frequently accompanied by text such as "WOT! No petrol" to make light of resource shortages. The presence of Mr Chad suggests that the world that a A Clockwork Orange takes place in is one of great austerity - further evidenced by the seemingly austere world the film takes place within. 

The mural has been defaced with tawdry sexual innuendo with phrases such as "suck it and see" and "if it moves kiss it" scrawled over the walls inside of large speech bubbles. Phalluses have been crudely drawn on, peeking out of loincloths and inserted in the rectums of the figures on the mural. The sexually provocative imagery, like the sexualised and objectified female constructions in the Korova Milkbar and the artwork in the Catlady's home, feels designed to shock but also its crudeness and form suggests it's the work of an infantile mind, highlighting the youthful nature of the criminal gangs that populate the world the film takes place in. The sexual graffiti with its colourful captions in itself feels intrinsically British; a sort of Carry On, end-of-the-pier style of humour that manifests at various points throughout the film, typically involving the prison officer but also present when Alex sees the hospital psychiatrist and partakes in a colourful exercise about his inner thoughts.

In a later scene, Alex reconvenes with his fellow droogs in the building's lobby. The petulant and slow Dim sits in a broken pram as Alex dominates him and asserts his position as the leader of the Droogs - positioning Alex as a fatherly like figure to the infantile Dim.

The Flat

The DeLarge's flat is a kaleidoscopic array of clashing colours and mismatched gaudy prints crammed full of ill-assorted furniture and dice like adornments. Whilst the exterior of their home is drab and utilitarian - reflective of the gruelling monotony of their humdrum lives - the interior is a kitsch palace epitomising early 1970s vulgarity. 

Upon Alex's return home, one is immediately struck by the bathroom wallpaper; a modernistic and garish design comprising of a diamond pattern in citrus oranges and yellows intercut with silver reflective segments. The wallpaper feels oppressive and intrusive as Alex urinates into the toilet bowel and feels wholly unsuitable for a bathroom interior. A similar wallpaper in the same colour palette is present in the kitchen but this time in a grid like pattern - accented against bright red dining chairs with white metal legs and a red formica table. A crude smiling sunflower sits on the middle of the table and feels like further evidence of enforced joviality through ostentatious and bright decor.

The living room walls are papered in mismatching styles; gradients of pink stripes, deep blue concentric shapes and silver raised half spheres in a space age style fashion. The sofa and chair fabric is a turquoise and blue houndstooth pattern whilst another chair is in a faux blue leather accented against white arms. The clashing patterns add to the flat's claustrophobic feel which feels too small to accommodate three adults. The viewer can perhaps infer why Alex would feel the need to escape the communal areas of his family's home and into the sanctuary of his own space or the vast expanses and exciting spaces outside the realm of Municipal Flat Block 18-A Linear North.

In the corner of the living room is a small bar - a ludicrous and aspirational item that feels strangely depressing. In the bar's first appearance, pre Alex's incarceration, it appears to have no alcohol on it or in it suggesting the DeLarge's are unable to afford or purchase it. The style of home bar present in the DeLarge's flat is now viewed as emblematic of bad taste, in particular bad taste of the 1970s and 1980s, and has subsequently appeared in cinema and television as a signifier of nouveau riche aspirations and vulgarity - for example Only Fools and Horses (1981).

As noted, the design choices of the DeLarge denotes an almost comedic lack of taste yet it is undercut with a sense of sadness; a desperation to inject the harsh realities of their drab and monotonous lives with colour and cheer. If anything, this excessive attempt to bring colour to their lives underlines the lack of it. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, the gaudy failed attempts at emulating design fashions and trends serves to highlight how out of touch and clueless the DeLarge's are. Again, we come back to the idea of conformity, wilful ignorance and a willingness to assimilate into society as a valued member of the tribe without free thought. This is perhaps best visualised via M's wardrobe. M dresses in a similar fashion to many of the other women in the film (most notably the waitress at The Duke of York pub) donning pinafore dresses in patent fabric, knee high socks and wigs in unnatural vibrant colours. M in her bizarre combination of schoolgirl and fetish wear looks like a comedic and grotesque caricature of woman - presented in the film through fetishised objects. Throughout A Clockwork Orange, Kubrick plays with gross imagery and exaggeration and it feels intentional that the women of the film look like distorted versions of the fetishised furniture present in the Korova Milkbar.

The garish tastes of the DeLarge's extend into the hallway which is papered with decadent golden textured wallpaper, reflective of the gold background of the mural in the building's lobby. The DeLarge's hallway features the ubiquitous, mass produced art of J.H. Lynch with three of his works framed on the walls of the hallway and living room - Tina, Nymph and Autumn Leaves. The fourth painting in a similar style is Nina by Vandersyde. The prominence of mass produced, low brow art from the 1970s is likely a visual gag about the DeLarge's lack of taste but also relays their lack of free thinking and conformity to trends. 

The bedroom of the DeLarge's is a more muted affair in shades of green and salmon pink. The most notable set decoration is the physical enhancements present; wigs and a set of false teeth. One of M's wigs sits atop a fabric covered mannequin head - just like in Alex's bedroom where his trademark bowler sits on an identical piece. Whilst, M routinely and dutifully heads to her job every day, so does Alex - both donning their trademark accessory to begin their respective "shifts".  

Alex's Bedroom

In contrast, Alex's stark white bedroom is his inner sanctum; a shrine to his love of music - specifically the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven's image is printed on a window blind that dominates the room, positioned at its central point. The blind flutters in the breeze, translucent, giving the impression of the composer as a god like figure who watches on in an omnipresent like fashion. On his wardrobe unit above his bed, there's a hanging that features a depiction of Beethoven in rest alongside sheet music and cassettes of the composer's work feature prominently, played on an expensive sound system through speakers positioned in a grid pattern that feel like a design feature in placement. Music, more specifically the music of Alex's lovely lovely Ludwig van, allows him to rest and relax but to simultaneously indulge in violent fantasies that feel masturbatory - a harmonious blend of sex and violence.  

Alex's room contains religious iconography and imagery pertaining to sin - a well trodden thematic component of the film - most notably the Herman Makkink sculpture Christ Unlimited (also seen in Tinto Brass' Dropout from 1970). The crucified image of Christ in a dancing pose alongside Alex's pet snake, Basil, who dwells on a strategically placed branch framed by the grotesque and sexually lurid art of Cornelius Makkink, naturally invites Biblical comparison. In one of A Clockwork Orange's most infamous scenes, Alex undergoes Ludovico treatment and cries out in horror upon hearing Beethoven's music used as the soundtrack to the atrocities on screen, declaring that is a sin to use his music in such.a way. The callous destruction of Alex's deep and unfaltering love of music is viewed by Dr Brodsky as the punishment element of his crimes. This idea of Beethoven, original sin and punishment is perhaps foreshadowed by the prominent imagery of Beethoven in Alex's quarters, juxtaposed against symbolism of sin such as Makkink's sculptural  Jesus' and Basil the snake. 

What's perhaps most striking about Alex's bedroom is that it doesn't resemble or adhere to the interior design of the rest of the flat; it's a space that seemingly exists outside of Municipal Flat Block 18-A. Perhaps a natural clash in tastes and ideals emblematic of the generational divide between parents and teenager but here, it is Alex who takes the form of adult; his room is the space of a sophisticate as opposed to his parent's tacky decor with its childish primary colours and ornamentation such as the smiling dancing sunflower in the kitchen. Alex's sophisticated cultural interests are signified by the various odes to Ludwig Van Beethoven in his bedroom but also via postcards that depict fine art and piles of books that litter the surfaces of his room. Alex is a man who commits unspeakable and barbaric acts - behaviour that one might view as uncivilised - but Alex is by all accounts and purposes, a civilised man if we view civility through a prism of one's appreciation for culture and the arts (civility throughout history has often been expressed via man's appreciation of art). In A Clockwork Orange pop art is prevalent in the homes of the upper classes and the appreciation of said art aligns the character of Alex with Mr Alexander and the Catady - note the similarities between Alex's painting and the ones in the home of the Catlady. The similarities between the bedroom of Alex and the home of Mr Alexander are striking, a visual link most notable via Alex's vivid red typewriter - a similar, larger model is present in the home of Mr Alexander, swept away by Alex in a giddy and childish act of vandalism. The minimalist and pop art inflections in Alex's room (the lighting fixture, the conical segmented duvet, the clean lines, the Snow White fibreglass sixtes futuristic chair with orange cushion) further serve to connect Alex's decorative taste with that of Alexander's. These visual connections between the two men reveals the interconnectivity between them. Alex is the shortened form of Alexander and like Alex, Mr Alexander is a dissenter, a transgressor. The Minister of the Interior describes Mr Alexander as "a writer of subversive literature" who wanted to use Alex for "political ends" (an irony not lost on the viewer) Mr Alexander is a political dissenter, who transgresses against society by not adhering to the established order of the totalitarian government drawing comparison to the anarchic Alex who also acts against society. Mr Alexander, like Alex, also has a number of cohorts, droogs if you will, to carry out his bidding and to assert his agenda. Yet there are equally differences between the two men, Alex is rash and impulsive, callous and self serving whereas Mr Alexander is physically passive, an intellectual who forms seemingly deep and meaningful relationships - perhaps in time, Alex will develop into a man similar to his namesake, or perhaps he will assimilate into society echoing the final chapter of Burgess' novel. 

On Alex's return, post reformation, he discovers that M and P have taken on lodger Joe who now resides in Alex's room. The carefully curated items that once populated Alex's room (including his beloved snake, Basil) have been removed and in their place, the possessions and interests of Joe - football and weightlifting. The bedroom now feels messy - note the unmade bed - and childish with its football posters and magazine cut outs. The Beethoven blind has been replaced with floral curtains in a colour palette that complements the vivid reds and blues present in the living room - asserting that Joe is now one of the family, the model son they never had. The removal of Alex's belongings - that conveyed so much about his character - further serve to cement Alex as a pariah like figure and asset his status as an individual who has been stripped of his individualism by the state, now rejected from society. 

Rachael Nisbet.

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