Production designer Judy Becker treated Lucia State Hospital like a character in its own right to ensure that the gruesome psychiatric institution takes centre stage in Netflix thriller Ratched.
The asylum is rich with unexpected architectural details ? undulating glass-block walls or vast panoramic windows hidden behind floor-to-ceiling curtains ? that are begging to be noticed.
This is a stark contrast to much of Becker's Oscar-nominated work, in which sets generally act as backdrops that merely complement the characters and action on screen.
"I haven't done this often but in the case of Ratched, I really wanted the building to draw attention to itself as a character," Becker told Dezeen. "It's a bit of a misdirect when you see this gorgeous building and the well-dressed patients but then the most horrible things are happening in this place." "It's like a beautiful person that's got a really dark secret," she added.
The asylum's lobby is an almost exact replica of that at Arrowhead Springs Hotel
That's because Ryan Murphy, the series' creator who is known for spearheading hyper-stylised shows such as American Horror Story, Scream Queens and The Politician, wanted the set to look less like an institution and more like a fancy resort that had been converted into a hospital.
"I threw away all my research on the grim asylums of the 1940s," said Becker. "Sometimes it's really warranted to do a very frightening-looking set design f...