Narrative Processes in Architectural Design

Abstract

This article focuses on the pedagogical approaches to representation in architecture through an elective course titled Narrative Processes in Architectural Design, which we instruct as four lecturers in the architecture departments of various universities. Our observations and thoughts on the need for such a course are based on contemporary critiques of the education and practice of architectural design. The critical vision we have adopted questions the role of representational practices in architectural design and their uses. One of the most significant results of the rooted paradigm in the history of architecture is that the discipline has turned into object-oriented thinking and practice, which includes measurable dimensions, geometries, and materials, rather than immeasurable phenomena such as feelings, experiences and atmosphere. Our critical vision for the role of representation in architectural design, which forms our course, aims at reintegrating everyday narratives into architectural practices through representation. Approaches of the course include three main themes; subjectivity, temporality and spatiality. The course is designed in modules, and each module relates to these three themes in distinct ways. Despite the ambiguity of subjective experiences and feelings, the course aims to reintegrate them into thinking and production. We discuss temporal constructions in two ways within the scope of the course; fragmented and linear. While addressing the theme of spatiality, another theme of the course, two main approaches are emphasized; tabula rasa and responding to the existing. Both of these approaches offer distinct possibilities for architectural practice. Our pedagogical reflection and methodology bring daily narratives back to architecture’s agenda by engaging these three themes with aspects of representation.