Architecture, Cinema, & Spatial Storytelling:

The Great Gatsby

Presented by John DeFazio, AIA

3LU's


Join AIA Long Island on Thursday, September 17, for an Architecture in Film screening of The Great Gatsby (1974). Directed by Jack Clayton from a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola, the film stars Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby and Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan, alongside Sam Waterston and Bruce Dern.


The evening opens with an insightful talk by architect John DeFazio, AIA, examining the rich intersection of architecture and cinema. DeFazio will explore how production designers harness spatial environments to shape character, evoke mood, and map social hierarchy. Drawing on The Great Gatsby—a masterpiece renowned for its deliberate spatial storytelling—the discussion will trace the story's visual evolution across its major film adaptations, from the silent 1926 original and the 1949 film noir to the 2000 TV version and Baz Luhrmann’s flashy 2013 spectacle. We will see how Fitzgerald famously used contrasting architectural styles—pitting East Egg’s conservative Georgian mansions against West Egg’s ostentatious French-imitation villas—to critique the American Dream.



Included in your ticket price: Pizza,unlimited popcorn, & unlimited soft drinks.

(The concession will be open for candy sales.)


Cost:

AIA MEMBERS-$20

NON-MEMBERS-$30

STUDENTS-Free


Date: Thursday,September 17, 2026


Time: 5:00pm-8:00pm


Location: Bellmore Playhouse

525 Bedford Avenue

Bellmore, NY 11710

About the Speaker:


John DeFazio, AIA, is an architect, writer, and educator teaching design, modern and

contemporary theory, and Architecture in Film at the New York Institute of Technology and Drexel University. He also serves as Executive Director of the Raymond Farm Center for Living Arts & Design in New Hope, PA.

Conference on Architecture 2026

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