The act of storytelling has, historically, been a powerful tool to communicate and disseminate meanings and values. Art forms like theatre, cinema and now installations have used storytelling as a central device in their process. Architecture has always claimed to communicate meaning and yet, the idea of narratives in architecture remain limited to a few 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 is to engage with the idea of narrative and seek interpretations of that within the expressions of the built form for a design process.
The studio will be in three parts, wherein the first part will be to create background knowledge for the student through reading, analysis of given cases and interpretation of the concept of narrative. The second part will involve creating the story to be told. Tools like storyboards, postit notes, can be used along with drawings and collages to construct the story. At this stage, the students will be expected to integrate an issue that is of deep concern to them within the story. Finally, the students are expected to be able to translate the ideas into an architectural design demonstrating their previous learning through known devices like structure, spatial organisation etc.
