Sir Ken Adam’s art and cinematography celebrated in new book

The Ken Adam Archive, Taschen

A visit to Sir Ken Adam’s London home some years ago, an elegant Knightsbridge terrace, was a chance to step into another world, one where faded old-world glamour abutted idiosyncratic modernist touches, with a dizzying collection of cinema memorabilia scattered across every surface, and the air heavy with cigarette smoke. Outside was parked Sir Ken’s faithful Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I Drophead Coupé, a 1959 model that the art director ultimately owned for 40 years.

Sir Ken Adam (Image credit: The Ken Adam Archive / Taschen)

Sir Ken Adam died in 2016 at the age of 95. His legacy was vast, transforming the art of production design through grandiose fictional space-making that has fed back, inevitably, into real-world architecture. 

Now, Taschen’s new monograph, The Ken Adam Archive, explores his work and cultural impact, taking a chronological look at his most memorable set designs. Written by Christopher Frayling, the book is richly illustrated with production sketches, behind-the-scenes photographs, and models, and features conversations with Adam about his long career. 

The Ken Adam Archive, Christopher Frayling, edition of 1,200, £850, Taschen.com

The Ken Adam Archive: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Bond

Adam designed the famous car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Ken Hughes, 1968), dovetailing his love of inter-war car design with eccentric Victorian engineering (Image credit: The Ken Adam Archive / Taschen)

A concept drawing for the massive volcano missile base in You Only Live Twice (Lewis Gilbert, 1967) (Image credit: The Ken Adam Archive / Taschen)

James Bond fights Blofeld’s bodyguard Hans in the elaborate villain’s lair, in You Only Live Twice (1967), a $1m set built at Pinewood, complete with piranha pool (Image credit: The Ken Adam Archive / Taschen)

A model of the submarine-catching supertanker at the heart of The Spy Who Loved Me (Lewis Gilbert, 1977), built for the 2014 Berlin exhibition ‘Bigger than Life. Ken Adam’s Film Design’ (Image credit: The Ken Adam Archive / Taschen)

The finished set from The Spy Who Loved Me in the purpose-built ‘007 Stage’ at Pinewood, complete with 1.2 million gallon water tank. The original structure burnt down in 1984 and is now the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage. The scene was lit by Adam’s friend Stanley Kubrick, uncredited. (Image credit: The Ken Adam Archive / Taschen)

An early design for the space station walkway in Moonraker (Lewis Gilbert, 1979) (Image credit: The Ken Adam Archive / Taschen)