BAFTA’s tribute to Ken Adam took place this past Monday night on the occasion of Ken Adam’s 90th birthday. As one of the most creative and imaginative production designers to ever live, not many people are more deserving of a gala celebrating their work than Sir Ken Adam.
Born in Germany in 1921, Ken Adam relocated with his family to England in 1934, where he studied at the Bartlett School of Architecture. He started his prolific film career in 1948 as a draughtsman and eventually went on to production design a whopping 44 movies, some of his most memorable being the seven James Bond films he designed.
Every film Ken Adam designed heightened the imagination including many incredibly expansive sets, giving the directors and cinematographers more to play with in terms of shots, light and composition which is no small feat.
For his efforts and contributions to the cinematic landscape the Art Director’s Guild awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 and he received 2 BAFTAs (Dr. Strangelove and The Ipcress File) and 2 Academy Awards (Barry Lyndon and The Madness of King George). In 2003, he was knighted by the Queen, the only Production Designer to ever receive this high honour. Take a look at some of Sir Ken Adam’s breathtaking creations.
The Selected Works of Production Designer Sir Ken Adam
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
A Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.
Director: Michael Anderson
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: James W. Sullivan
Set Decorator: Ross Dowd
Dr. No (1962)
A resourceful British government agent seeks answers in a case involving the disappearance of a colleague and the disruption of the American space program.
Director: Terence Young
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Syd Cain
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
An rogue general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a War Room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Peter Murton
Goldfinger (1964)
While investigating a gold magnate’s smuggling, James Bond uncovers a plot to contaminate the Fort Knox gold reserve.
Director: Guy Hamilton
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Peter Murton
The Ipcress File (1965)
In London, a counter espionage Agent deals with his own bureaucracy while investigating the kidnapping and brainwashing of British scientists.
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Peter Murton
Thunderball (1965)
James Bond heads to the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.
Director: Terence Young
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Peter Murton
Set Decorator: Peter Lamont
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Secret Agent James Bond and the Japanese Secret Service must find and stop the true culprit of a series of space hijackings, before war is provoked between Russia and the United States.
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Set Decorator: David Ffolkes
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
A down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.
Director: Ken Hughes
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Harry Pottle
Diamonds are Forever (1971)
A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas, where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.
Director: Guy Hamilton
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Directors: Bill Kenney and Jack Maxsted
Set Decorator: John Austin and Peter Lamont
Sleuth (1972)
A man who loves games and theater invites his wife’s lover to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Peter Lamont
Set Decorator: John Jarvis
Barry Lyndon (1975)
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband’s aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Roy Walker
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
James Bond investigates the hijacking of British and Russian submarines carrying nuclear warheads, with the help of a K.G.B. Agent, whose lover he killed.
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: Peter Lamont
Set Decorator: Hugh Scaife
Moonraker (1979)
James Bond investigates the mid-air theft of a space shuttle, and discovers a plot to commit global genocide.
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Directors: Charles Bishop and Max Douy
Set Decorator: Peter Howitt
Addams Family Values (1994)
The Addams Family try to rescue their beloved Uncle Fester from his gold-digging new love, a black widow named Debbie.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Art Director: William J. Durrell Jr.
Set Decorator: Marvin March
The Madness of King George (1994)
When King George III goes mad, his Lieutenants try to adjust the rules to run the country without his participation.
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Supervising Art Director: Martin Childs
Set Decorator: Carolyn Scott
Taking Sides (2001)
A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwangler, the controversial conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic whose tenure coincided with the controversial Nazi era.
Director: István Szabó
Production Designer: Ken Adam
Supervising Art Director: Anja Müller
Set Decorator: Bernhard Henrich
My favourite Ken Adam set is the War Room from Dr. Strangelove. What’s your favourite set Ken Adam production designed? I’d love to know your thoughts about his work in the comments below.
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Barry Lyndon. He changed the perception that period films could only be made in the studio and made a beautiful demonstration that just because a film is shot on location doesn’t mean you do not need a production designer.
The Ken Adam set in Dr. Strangelove is very sleek and realistic, in that, it might have existed. Being trained in architecture definitely shows and inspired Ken’s sets, but more so was his constant desire to produce in different design vocabularies. I think his sets and models produced for the movies Dr. No, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker are the most exceptional. Also, I am sure there were others on his art team that contributed and may remain uncredited.
[…] always been a big fan of large, cavernous spaces (possibly a hangover from seeing Ken Adams magnificent set designs, especially in the Bond movies). After asking permission from a couple of Transport for London […]