architectural symbolism

His films use architectural spaces as psychological and spiritual landscapes, from the Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita to the surreal structures in 8½, where buildings embody inner emotional states.

Architecture functions as a metaphor for memory, time, and the soul in films like Stalker and The Mirror, where decaying structures and industrial spaces symbolize spiritual degradation and metaphysical yearning.

His meticulously composed symmetrical architectural frames serve as visual metaphors for order, containment, and the artificial nature of human relationships and memory.