In Bugonia, There's More to the Film's Designer Furniture Than Meets the Eye

"I would almost liken the pieces we included to trophies. You could take these examples as pinnacles of human civilization. So much so that Yorgos wasn't keen on us even having reproductions. Michelle, then, seems to have collected these items as a kind of physical highlight reel of human creativity—and therefore, as subtle self-validation of her humanity."

"Yet the irony is that once possessed, trophies become static, and even cold, objects. In trying to appear human through idealization, she adds... well, something of a chill to the room. The suggestion seems to be that this masked extraterrestrial character uses design in part as proof of her authenticity, yet the objects she surrounds herself with carry a chilly reserve and an efficient immaculateness."

In the film Bugonia, director Yorgos Lanthimos and production designer James Price strategically incorporate modernist design pieces by architects like Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright throughout the protagonist Michelle Fuller's professional and personal spaces. These carefully selected furnishings—including Barcelona chairs that transition from black to white as Michelle approaches her office—serve as deliberate visual markers. The design choices suggest that Michelle, revealed to be an alien, uses these iconic objects as proof of her humanity and authenticity. However, the pieces create an ironic effect: rather than conveying warmth and genuine human connection, they establish a sterile, efficient atmosphere. The production designer describes these items as trophies representing pinnacles of human civilization, suggesting Michelle collects them for self-validation. Ultimately, the design strategy reveals how her attempt to appear human through idealization paradoxically emphasizes her alienation.

Read at Architectural Digest