Anime Architecture: Imagined Worlds and Endless Megacities

The influence of anime, one of Japan’s most successful cultural exports, has been felt across cinema, literature, comic books and videogames for decades, yet the artwork behind the genre remains somewhat enigmatic, particularly in the pre-digital period before the early 2000s. A genuine behind-the-scenes journey into the original background paintings, storyboards and early drafts of the industry’s most revered directors and illustrators, Anime Architecture presents the otherworldly buildings and megacities of these visionaries as celebrations of – and lessons for – the near future.

Includes exclusive material from:

• AKIRA, 1988


• Patlabor: The Movie, 1989


• Patlabor 2: The Movie, 1993


• Ghost in the Shell, 1995


• Metropolis, 2001


• Innocence, 2004


• Tekkonkinkreet, 2006


• Rebuild of Evangelion, 2007, 2009