Columbus Modernist Architecture District

About

Columbus, Indiana is arguably the most visually distinctive small city in America—a mid-century experiment in architectural patronage that resulted in a higher concentration of modernist masterworks per capita than anywhere outside major global capitals. The Indiana Film Commission promotes Columbus as a filming destination for its unique built environment: works by Eliel and Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei, Harry Weese, and Robert Venturi stand alongside each other in a flat Midwestern cityscape that reads as simultaneously familiar and alien on camera. The 2017 indie film Columbus—a meditation on architecture and grief—demonstrated exactly how cinematically potent the city's buildings are when treated as characters in their own right. An active local arts infrastructure and production-experienced visitor center facilitate film shoots.