Eye On Design: Aries 1-B Spaceship Model from Kubrick’s 2001

All Photos By Gail

Most of the props, sets, costumes, and models from the film 2001: A Apace Odyssey (1968) were intentionally destroyed by Director Stanley Kubrick to prevent their reuse in other productions; this surviving Aries 1B Spaceship Model is a rarity.

Spaceship Model, Detail

Kubrick consulted with NASA engineers to ensure its realism, even though its meticulously detailed pipes and panels would be only briefly visible on screen. This insistence on scientific accuracy was a departure from most science-fiction films at the time. The miniature models contributed to 2001’s astonishing effects, which earned the film the Academy Award for a Special Visual Effects.