Georgetown University landmark Lauinger Library has been selected as a primary location for a remake of George Orwell’s 1984, sources confirm. One of two remaining examples of New Brutalist architecture left in the District of Columbia, Lauinger’s unrelenting ugliness perfectly conveys the bleakness of Orwell’s dystopian vision.

“It really is our dream location,” the director said Saturday, describing the structure sometimes referred to as Lauschwitz. “When they told me about it, I didn’t quite believe them, but when I was driving into the city, I caught a glimpse of that horrible tower disfiguring the city skyline. … I was immediately overcome with misery and loss.”

“To clarify, when I say ‘primary location,’ I pretty much mean ‘the only location,’” he continued. “This building’s architecture is such a sprawling, disorganized mess that we can shoot from a number of different angles and make it look like several distinct, equally soul-crushing locations.”

The building itself isn’t the only thing the team is interested in; the film crew plans to use Georgetown students studying in Lau as footage for the movie. “They all sit there with their essays and books with dead, glazed eyes, all day and night, just sitting!” one cameraman said. “You can feel the despair! The empty small talk and nervous laughter… it’s eerie, you know? Just to distract themselves from the horror of their day-to-day existence!”

“It’s fantastic — we don’t even need to hire extras!” the director said in an interview.

One table over, a student preparing for an impending all-nighter was sobbing into a stack of textbooks, whispering, “I love Big Brother.”

On Lau 2, I spoke with the actor who will be portraying Winston Smith, the novel’s ill-fated protagonist.

“At first, I was having a really hard time stepping into the character’s shoes and really feeling what he feels in the book,” he said. “But then I tried the coffee at Midnight Mug, and upon tasting it, I fell to my knees in anguish and sorrow: In that moment, I was Winston Smith. This coffee tastes the way the book feels.”

After another agonizing sip, he said, “I swear, when he describes Victory Coffee in the book, Orwell must have imagined something like this. Jesus!”

At press time, Orwell was unavailable to comment.