The act of storytelling has, historically, been a powerful tool to communicate and disseminate meanings. Art forms like theatre, cinema, and now installations have used storytelling as a strategic organizing device. Architecture has always claimed to communicate meaning and yet, the idea of narratives remains limited to some theoretical expressions. Can the architect assume the role of a storyteller and offer spatial experiences that can create an experience of a narrative for the users? The aim of this studio was to engage with the idea of narrative and seek interpretations building on this theme within the expressions of the built form. As architects engage with the possibilities of advocacy, the narrative offers strategies and mechanisms to connect to the people as a distinctive process of arriving at a design that foregrounds the experiences of people as a sequence of movement or expression of significant concerns. These qualities were investigated in the studio where the students underwent a rigorous exploration of the components of the narrative that included the plot, the setting, and the structure.
This studio investigated abandoned and neglected spaces to reconstitute as a positive experience within an urban fabric.
The intention was to create hybrid, dynamic programs that fit the complex, changing global conditions. It was seen as an opportunity to explore dynamic social, political, and ecological constructs expressed in a public institution.
