Peter Greenaway’s The Belly of an Architect (1987) is a story about Stourley Kracklite, an American architect whose health and marriage disintegrate. This coincides with a showcase in Rome celebrating French architect Étienne-Louis Boullée, who drew up hundreds of buildings although none were ever built. Kracklite, played by Brian Dennehy, experiences belly aches that reflect how upset he is internally, illustrating how lost he feels in this city. His struggles are a testament to and a parody of his rigid concepts about buildings. His exhibit makes some proud, others jealous, while Italian co-creator Caspasian Speckler plots to steal Kracklite’s job and others debate Boullée’s relevance. The film reveals not only Kracklite’s inner turmoil but also a vivid image of Amsterdam as a city full of rich history, power, and transformation.
It focuses primarily on great buildings in Rome. Kracklite’s show, in a plain palace, is frequently accompanied by photographs of famous sites in the city; its lovely dome at the Pantheon, towering Baroque squares, and even a modern building known as Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana in EUR, nicknamed the “Square Colosseum” due to its striped arches. This building from the time of the Fascist regime was designed in 1938 and completed during Mussolini’s rule. This demonstrates how architecture was used by the regime to promote its ideology. Its powerful lines were intended to display power by the regime and a nod to ancient Rome. Greenaway’s juxtaposition of Kracklite’s inner turmoil with buildings such as these demonstrates how architectural concepts can contradict the beliefs they espouse.
Kracklite describes how Rome’s cityscape boasts numerous styles over the last two millennia. It boasts ancient Roman structures such as arches, vaults, domes, Renaissance palaces, and Baroque ornamentation, rendering the city museum-like. Between the 11th and the 13th centuries, large ancient concrete structures like the Colosseum and the Pantheon gave rise to Romanesque churches with exquisite marble work called Cosmatesque. The Renaissance introduced classical balance to reuse in palaces like Farnese and Barberini. The Baroque era transformed Rome into a theater for performance; squares like Navona Square and fountains like Trevi became sites at which people would congregate, exemplifying the intention of the Church to impress and instruct people through exquisite designs.
Cultural transformation within Rome is intrinsically linked to its numerous structures. Being at the center of the Papacy, it has benefited from patronage by the church for decades. The structures were not created solely for prayer, but for exchanging ideas from the Counter-Reformation. They utilized more extensive designs, open spaces, and elaborate decorations to display religious power. Religious authority coexists with others not related to religion. The Renaissance popes constructed palaces to demonstrate God’s favor in addition to theirs, while more recent leaders utilized structures, such as the EUR area, to advance tales of national revival and development.
Over time, the population of people in Rome kept increasing, and this influenced how it was constructed. After World War II, numerous babies were born, people moved from rural areas to cities, and housing was lacking. Thus, numerous people relocated to the suburbs. Cities like EUR transformed from being utilized for use in Fascist propaganda to business purposes and housing provisions to accommodate growing numbers of people and preparation for when the Olympics came to Rome in 1960. Now, cities like this have plain constructions with new offices and cultural spots, depicting how the city continues to change buildings to accommodate people.
Preserving Fascist landmarks such as the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana indicates Italy continues to struggle with its past. Germany, however, destroyed a lot of Nazi sites, whereas Italy preserved a lot of buildings from the Fascist era, even renovating a few for fashion or museums. Fendi relocated its headquarters to the “Square Colosseum” in 2015, for example. A luxury brand now occupies a building previously dedicated to Mussolini to advance global trade and Italian expertise. The new function of this building demonstrates how political philosophies shift with time through buildings, transforming icons of a painful legacy into symbols of cultural resilience and economic prosperity.
Modernization and democracy can be seen today in Rome. Its historic core is highly valued and guarded by preservation legislation. The large developments, however, like the line for the Metro C and new cultural destinations like MAXXI (the Museum of 21st Century Arts), demonstrate a commitment to bringing up-to-date styles to the ancient city. Alliances between sectors, like Fendi assuming responsibility for the EUR palazzo and sponsoring the restoration of famous landmarks like the Trevi Fountain, demonstrate a means by which preservation can be blended with business interests in order to preserve the global image of the city.
To the human eye, such as Kracklite in the film or a contemporary visitor, Rome’s architecture is glorious but confusing. The film’s lead character, adoring perfect neoclassicism himself, wonders at Rome’s tangled past, where the vision of one designer battles that of emperors, popes, dictators, and businesses. His own failures demonstrate how this city continually shifts and absorbs all sorts of architectural styles, a reminder that buildings never remain static and are part of discourse concerning power, society, and history.
The Belly of An Architect isn’t a tale about death and obsession; it makes us consider how buildings store up social change, political ideology, and cultural memory. Through Kracklite’s tragic path in Rome, Peter Greenaway challenges us to consider how people change, how modernization alters a city, how religion and culture create magnificent dreams, and how politics influences significant buildings. In Rome, each building holds a slice in a living tale, and each alteration, regardless of whether from the approval of the pope, fascist ideology, or fluctuations in capital, adds a new installment to the city’s enduring story.
- Pinn, M. (2025). The Belly of an Architect: The Whole History of My Life. [online] Thepinksmoke.com. Available at: https://thepinksmoke.com/historybellyofanarchitect2.htm?utm [Accessed 15 May 2025].
- to, C. (2022). ffilm ddrama gan Peter Greenaway a gyhoeddwyd yn 1987. [online] Wikipedia.org. Available at: https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Belly_of_an_Architect? [Accessed 14 May 2025].
- BFI Southbank Programme Notes. (2022). The Belly of an Architect – BFI Southbank Programme Notes. [online] Available at: https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/frames%20of%20mind%3Cbr%3E%20the%20films%20of%20peter%20greenaway/2022/10/19/belly-of-an-architect/? [Accessed 15 May 2025].
- Wikipedia Contributors (2025). The Belly of an Architect. Wikipedia.
