Narrative Fiction Theory in Design

UNRAVELLING THE FRAMEWORK OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN

By Chandani Patel Guided by: Seema Khanwalkar

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Contents 01 03

Acknowledgements Contents Abstract Research Questions

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Introduction Scope & Limitations

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A Brief History of Speculative Design / 01

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Characteristics of Speculative Design Practice / 02

Pursuit of Inquiry Basis of Perception 25 Displacement through Time 27 Displacement through Space Scenario Building Story Telling 23

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Narrative Theory & Case Studies / 03

Methodology Application of Framework 35 Selection Criteria for Case studies 37 Outliers 31

39 45 51 59 69 73

Einstein Tomb by Lebbeus Woods Museum of Lost Volumes by Nemestusio Metropolis by Fritz Lang Monument Valley by Ustwo Games Clean Air pod by Ant Farm Conical Intersect by Gordon Matta Clark

General Inferences Character – Environment Relationship Narrator- Focalizer Relationship Focalizer and Speculative Design Theory 81 Diegetic and Mimetic Spectrum

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83

Conclusions

89 91

Bibliography Image References

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Abstract The practice of speculative design is a distinct aspect of design that centers around the imaginative and critical component of design over its performative aspect. Its relevance is discussed in the context of the conventions of contemporary architectural practice, and the need for critical thought and ideological reflection in the discipline. To uncover the roots of speculative design, a genealogy is traced from the conception of Utopias and the forays into conceptual architecture through architectural drawing, to the present day. This builds a basis to establish the characteristics of speculative design and its mechanisms, opening up the practice to a diverse cross section of mediums that are often used in conjunction with architecture to create speculations. It is revealed that the manner in which the speculation unfolds is akin to a narrative. To this end Narrative Fiction Theory is used as a framework to understand the narrative structure of the speculation. An analysis is done to uncover the relationships and structures that emerge when speculative design is taken into the realm of narrative theory. The implications of this are discussed in the light of architectural pedagogy and practice and the potential of this approach, to design the narrative itself, is addressed.

Research Questions To establish why narrative theory is an appropriate framework, I will examine the key characteristics of speculative design. The questions that arise are: what are the characteristics of speculative design? What does the concept of a hypothesis enable? In what ways is the displacement simulated in the speculation? And what is the framework by which one can construct and decipher speculative design?

This lays the basis for the primary inquiry of the thesis: how can the practice of speculative design be understood in terms of the narrative structure of the speculation? This larger question is broken down into the following sub-questions: What are the emergent patterns and relationships when said framework is applied? What positions does the designer (or architect) occupy with respect to the narrative? Is there a co-relation between the methods of displacement used to create speculations and the variables of narrative theory?

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Fig. 0.1 : Kersten geers david van severen and Dogma, New administrative capital, 2005.

4 / INTRODUCTION

Introduction

“ Dreams are powerful. They are repositories of our desire. They animate the entertainment industry and drive consumption. They can blind people to reality and provide cover for political horror. But they also inspire us to imagine that things could be radically different than they are today, and then believe we can progress toward that imaginary world.�

- Stephen Duncombe, Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy INTRODUCTION / 5

Fig. 0.2 : Ruins of Travelers Shelter, 2015.

Pen and Ink on Cartridge.

Fig. 0.3 : David Macaulay, The Ordinary World Beneath our Feet: ‘Underground’, 1976.

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There have been practices of speculation in architecture ever since architecture has existed.

All design is speculative, and yet, the term Speculative design is distinctive and has special characteristics. It revolves around the ability of imagination to temporarily unsettle what we believe, creating a sense of amazement and doubt. In doing so it becomes a tool for reflection and a catalyst for change, often using the future as a fertile playground for such experimentation.

One of the most memorable encounters with this kind of thinking was during the first year of my course at the School of Architecture. We were to design a travelers shelter in a hypothetical salt pan desert with a cliff that extended in both directions unto infinity. This setting itself posed an incredible world to inhabit, that of the endless cliff in a crackling white desert. In the following weeks we were asked to draw up the shelter, and along the way, we were given deceptively simple design tasks. One such was to draw an activity plan of the shelter and its surrounds, but to populate it with both gregarious travelers and loners and to draw it up separately for morning, afternoon and night. Another was to draw an elevation of the building, from a distance of 100 meters, 1 kilometer and 100 kilometers, just as a traveler would see it as she approached it.

All of these small nudges were designed to create a mise en scene for the big push which came when Prof. Chhaya asked us to imagine a Future where the building was an abandoned ruin. In this Future there would also be a change in the ecology of the place, possibly because of a rising of the water table. I was quite attached to the design already and this was quite upsetting but exciting at the same time. At first we started small, a3 sheets of paper, a tree here and there, the building crumbling, meekly at best. Prof. Chhaya called a halt to the exercise, probably underwhelmed by our response to the provocative assignment, asking us to put away our rectangular sheets and use instead a 42-inch circular sheet of paper. A circular sheet of paper? Who could have conjured up such madness! And yet it made perfect sense.

The brief was now to draw the plan of the building at the center and project 4 views of the building onto the circumference (the ground), and then begin ruining. I remember relishing the freedom to draw, it didn’t matter how it would actually happen, if I could imagine that a ficus seed had landed on the second floor and essentially grown entirely above ground, then that was what would happen and I could explore what that meant. There was an outpouring of imagination from everyone in class, we scribbled away at these sheets for 3 days, allowing our inner landscapes to pour onto paper and fossilize concrete and brick. The simple act of changing our frame of perception from rectilinear to circular, had allowed our imaginations to break free of reality’s firm grasp (Raby and Dunne 3).

In this instance the future envisioned was mainly fantastical and the assumptions made in this speculative future were simple: to imagine the building as ruin, the desert as a forest and do so with a radical frame of representation. Any discursive questions were put aside as it was primarily an educational exercise to visualize freely. However, it was personally significant for me in my journey to discover this expanded idea of design as a tool to question and provoke basic assumptions.

It also introduced me to futures thinking, a practice that looks at the future as a stream of possibility that we shape by every action we take. As opposed to the prevalent belief that the

INTRODUCTION / 7

Fig. 0.10 : Superstudio, Supersurface [film], 1972.

Fig. 0.4 : Reflection Micha Ringger, Adrian Brunold and Jonatan Egli, A House Without Function, 2016.

Fig. 0.6 : Social Commentary Superstudio, Continuous Monument, 1969.

Fig. 0.5 : Experimentation OMA, City of the Captive Globe, 1977.

The grid enables the exploration of diverse modalities, allowing divergent movements to co-exist, thereby becoming a veritable ideological laboratory.

8 / INTRODUCTION

Fig. 0.7 : Humor Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis, Mies-on-a-beam, 1997.

future is a far flung object that is formed by itself, to be skeptical about or maybe even feared.

Another formative encounter with speculative design was during my design dissertation project. I had started with a wide area of interest: the badlands of the urban metropolis.

The concerns ranged from sprawling flyovers networks to concretized riverbeds to displaced communities. The urban conditions in question are incredibly complex, and I for a while I didn’t know where to begin to engage with such challenging subjects. There was a sense of hopelessness. There were questions such as, was design the appropriate tool here? Is there a need to build anything anymore? As an exercise, I began speculating and sketching What-if scenarios based on these urban conditions. No idea was too silly to sketch, and there was no qualification for it having to be real or realizable. The exercise proved to be an invaluable learning tool and some of the ideas and connections that emerged became turning points in my design process. This was an important realization, the understanding that the purpose of speculative design lies in its ability to provide insight and does not necessarily add anything to the pursuit of creating a product, or object. It is the aim of speculative design to instigate critical thought, rethink preconceptions and generate debate.

I use this journey as a kind of a metaphor to make sense of the forces at play in today’s time. Undeniably, we live in a world governed by the forces of scientific thought, unwavering technological development and the all-consuming capitalist wave which have percolated into almost all aspects of society. As Frederic Jameson remarked, “Someone once said that it is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism. We can now revise that and witness the attempt to imagine capitalism by way of imagining the end of the world.” Such is the crisis we are in today, which is compounded by the fact that by existing in a state of perpetual compliance with these forces, the majority of architecture is in a downward spiral unto irrelevance.

I am cautiously optimistic that the practices of Speculative design can act as a much needed generators of the ‘alternate’ here, as Speculative futures are as much about the present as they are about imagining how things can be. If there is a space from which these radical ideas can emerge, it is that of discussion, argument and awe, which may then take root in the consciousness. This where speculative design’s agency can serve to create the conditions for thought that are beyond prevalent notions, compelling us to think differently about things, perhaps leading to a questioning of one’s own reality, or fiction, as it were. The fringes of architecture are littered with such bold intentions. They can be found in the brave new worlds of Utopias (and dystopias), proclamations of neo avant-garde visions, in the expeditions undertaken in paper architecture, in the making of game-worlds, in the drawing of dystopic graphic novels, in thought experiments run in the studios of architecture schools. For anyone who chooses to explore this terrain will find an abundance of the creative and the critical, pushing the boundaries of conventional thought. Such endeavors cannot be overlooked, moreover, there is a need for coherence in understanding this realm of practice in order to discern its value.

In studying works of Speculative design in architecture I have come across several ‘umbrellas’ under which they are grouped, some of these are: ‘Visionary Architecture’, ‘Conceptual Architecture’, ‘Utopias/ Dystopias’, ‘Radical Architecture’, ‘Opportunistic Architecture’, ‘Paper Architecture’, even, ‘Unbuilt Work’1 . While these descriptions are technically accurate in 1. In the wider design community there is also an emergence of terms such as ‘Discursive design’, ‘Critical design’, ‘Design Fiction’ and so on which rely on the same thought processes to guide their work as speculative design. These will be expanded later on from a semantics standpoint.

INTRODUCTION / 9

Fig 0.9 : Lebbeus Woods, City of Air, 1984.

Fig 0.8 : Ron Herron, Walking City, 1964.

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themselves, they describe the nature of the product, and not the method of thinking that informs them. This is a crucial because the process of creating such work is what makes them distinct. What is apparent is that although there is a plentitude of work, there are far fewer studies into the thought processes that create them or methods in place to analyze their value, creating the space for this thesis that attempts to arrive at some ways of looking at methods and thought processes that drive speculative design projects.

The first chapter charts a Brief History of Speculative design in Architecture that begins at the inception of Speculative futures in design thinking, the creation of Utopias. Over centuries the nature of the Utopia shifts from a parallel reality closer to alternative present, ultimately collapsing, rather, ceding to the influence of scientific and rationalist thought. Almost simultaneously there is a surge in other variants of speculative thought proliferated by the likes of Archigram, Superstudio, Lebbeus Woods and so on that broaden the role of such work and their influence on the practice of architectural design. Thereafter, the issue of semantics of the term is discussed.

The second chapter, Characteristics of Speculative design addresses the basic characteristics of speculative design. The basis of perception in speculative design is discussed in terms of the idea of displacement, that creates room for new associations. Fiction is extensively used to this end and time and space emerge as the key ways in which the displacement is structured. This leads us to the understanding that in building fictional scenarios, the designer is telling a story.

After exploring the storytelling aspect of speculative design, the narrative fiction theory is introduced as a framework to study speculative design in chapter 3: Narrative Theory and

Case Studies. A group of cases studies are analyzed to discern the manner in which they have structured the narrative in terms of characterization, focalization, narration and use of environment. In General Inferences, the emergent relationships and the diegetic-mimetic component of the narratives will be detailed.

The observations and learnings are shared in the Conclusions. The significance of speculative design in contemporary architectural practice and the relevance of this endeavor are also discussed here.

Scope & Limitations 1. This thesis positions itself as a study on Speculative design, not as a subset of the discipline of architecture, but as an approach to design of which architecture is but one medium of expression.

2. The focus of the study is on the making of the narrative, its structural aspects. The perception of the narrative from the point of view of the narratee will not be discussed.

As there is no clear definition of speculative design, a set of characteristics have been defined in Chapter 2 to filter projects through. However these cannot be applied with the same rigour as principles, which would require a large pool of projects to distill commonalities.

INTRODUCTION/ 11

Fig. 1.1 : Etienne-Louis Boullée, Cenotaph for Newton, 1780-93.

12 / A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN

A Brief History of Speculative Design Chapter 1

“ Whenever the utopia disappears, history ceases to be a process leading to an ultimate end. The frame of reference according to which we evaluate facts vanishes and we are left with a series of events all equal as far as their significance is concerned.�

-Karl Manheim A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN / 13

Fig. 1.3 : Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, 1789.

The shadow appears to show the city hovering over the farmlands, the bearer of a new order.

Fig. 1.2 : Thomas Moore, Utopia, 1518.

Fig. 1.4 : Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Roman Capriccio, 1735.

Showing the Colosseum, Borghese Warrior, Trajan’s Column, the Dying Gaul, Tomb of Cestius, Arch of Constantine and the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

Fig. 1.5 : Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Imaginary Prisons, 1745-50.

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Fig. 1.6 : Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, proposal for a masonry and iron building, 1879.

Speculative design in Architecture first emerged as a distinctive line of inquiry in the 15th century in the form of ‘Utopias’. The term Utopia was coined by Thomas More in his book2 about an imaginary island inhabited by a self-sufficient idealized society. In it, he introduces an island called “Utopia” whose name is derived from the Greek ou-topos meaning ‘no –place’ or ‘nowhere’ highlighting its fictional nature, but this is also a pun, as the phonetically similar Greek eu-topos means ‘good-place’, prompting the question, can a perfect world be real?

Since this seminal work, the term ‘Utopia’ has become a metonym for fictional parallel realities depicting desirable societies ( within a specific political framework ). Although it is debatable whether More’s Utopia was a socio-political satire3, it also became quickly apparent in subsequent Utopic visions that they served as objects of contemplation (Rowe and Koetter 14) and underneath the veneer of perfection were sharp criticisms of the status quo, not just for society but of the profession itself, by designing for the future.

In the development of Utopias in the following the centuries, the design for Chaux4 by the architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, was a milestone. It envisioned the “Ideal city of Chaux” that digressed from rectilinear plans of the time by proposing a panoptical model that organized all the living parts of the city around a center which was occupied by the director’s house. This organization of society around the idea of surveillance (Spiller 17) was evolved by Ledoux into a radical treaty by 1804. It also signaled a departure from the ‘classical utopia’ to an ‘activist one’, the latter being characteristically bent toward a logical organization of society (Rowe and Koetter 20) and a propensity for scientific thought.

Also in the 18th century we see the emergence of speculative design in the work of Etienne Boullee and Giovanni Piranesi. Piranesi is one of the most influential figures in the realm of speculative design. During his time, the practice of Capriccio was used by artists to paint fantastical scenes of several celebrated monuments in one frame to give tourists an imaginary but comprehensive tasting of the sights in the area. Piranesi used a similar tactic in his pioneering series of etchings, ‘Imaginary Prisons’ in which he portrays a prison through impossible perspectives and spatial conundrums. There are very few people in the prison, seemingly only there to provide a sense of scale. The imaginary architecture is a collage of memories, in ruin, symbolizing the space of the mind, one can never see the ‘outside’ of the prison, this creates the sense of a gargantuan interior that cannot be escaped. It is also apparent that Piranesi draws on his training as a stage designer for theatre and opera in creating such spatial conundrums, laying the foundation for an architecture of the imaginary. As Kirsty Badenoch writes, “The etchings become both historical records and future possibilities, depicting half-imagined, half-ruined places and incorporating mythologies within the fabric of their imagery. They were driven by – but not bound by – buildability, thus liberating the imagination…” (172). It is no coincidence that this century saw the emergence of science fiction genre, with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. With his unsettling and dark visions in Le 2.The full title of the book is De optimo rei publicae deque nova insula Utopia that translates to, “On the Best State of a Republic and on the New Island of Utopia”

3.Many historians believe that the socio – political satire was aimed at contemporary European society because elements of the work indicate a strong critique of the practices of the Catholic church.

4.Although this design was made with the intent to be built, a cursory analysis of what was deemed to be ‘buildable’ at the time would show that the departures Ledoux makes are radical almost to the point of being fictional and hence are characterized as speculative design. The plan of the city is also drawn as a object floating above the farmlands below, suggesting it is not ‘of this place’.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN / 15

Fig. 1.10 : Coop Himmelbau, Restless sphere , 1971.

Fig. 1.9 : Cedric Price, Potteries Thinkbelt, 1966.

Masterplan of university and transit network hybrid showing infrastructure network of mobile learning spaces.

Fig. 1.8 : Francois Dallegret, Anatomy of a Dwelling, 1965.

“An ensemble of the intestinal complexity of gracious living.”

Fig 1.7 : Rem Koolhaas, The voluntary prisoners of architecture, 1972.

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Carceri, Piranesi arguably the father of Dystopia5 as it is understood today.

Subsequently from the 19th century onward, speculation took on new roles as in the thought experiments in construction of space undertaken by Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc; the drawings of Bruno Taut and Hans Poelzig; the conceptual work of Massimo Scolari, La Tendenza and the De Stijl Movement.

With the end of the century, the activist Utopia re-emerged in the proposals of Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City (1898); Le Corbusier’s Radiant City (1924); Frank Lloyd Wright’s Broadacre City (1932) and so on. These proposals use large scale planning6 (Picon) and manifesto style rhetoric to make grand schemes to order society by. This lead to a stylization of approach due to the overt dependence on logic and the organizational focus of the vision.

In these modernist dreamlands, the utopia still remained place-less to a large extent, reordering society from a distance or, through its erasure.

This approach was superseded by a surge of speculative projects in the mid 1900s. The young architects of the time sought to question the reign of Modernism, and through this liberation they opened the doors for a myriad of ways to speculate about society and its relationship to the environment. The model of the Utopia became one of many ways in which the imagination gained expression. Futuristic scenarios came to be used to situate the projects at other points in time, thereby the dimension of time in creating the speculation expanded the possibility, or rather, the impossibility of the vision.

In projects by Archigram, Archizoom, Superstudio, the Metabolists among others, the technique of photomontage was extensively used, this not only situated the speculation in place but also fostered the inhabitation by the viewer through the use of familiar environments. Such as in the case of Rem Koolhaas’ project, ‘Exodus: Voluntary Prisoners of Architecture’, a “wall” cuts through the urban fabric of London, juxtaposing a stark object with the fabric of the city, and creating an inside and outside of metropolitan order. This is an exploration in ‘freedom by self-imprisonment’ (Lucarelli par 1) by introducing a condition, ‘the wall’ to simulate a scenario within which ideas can be discussed more directly. This type of simulation has become a characterisitc style of speculation where conditions are changed or foriegn elements intrdocued in images of known places, furthering the audacity of the representation of the idea often times for purposes of critique. In actively analyzing an aspect of society in the 20th century, the speculation took on an acutely critical role. This is apparent in the creation of the Pamphlet Architecture Series by Steven Holl, the evocative work of Lebbeus Woods, the ideological exploration of OMA’s inquiries, the provocative performances of Ant Farm7, the dome cookbooks of Steve Baer, installations by Walter Pichler, the experiments by Haus Rucker & Co. and so many others.

During this period, it is notable that the speculations are built or part of performance art installations as a means to demonstrate the scenario. This brings an immersive aspect to 5.Dystopia, from the Greek dys-topos meaning ‘bad –place’, was derived as an antonym of Utopia. However, the term was originally kakotopia, or ‘wicked- place’, put forth in 1818 by Jeremy Bentham in the context of politics.

6. See: Picon, Antoine. 2013. Learning from utopia: contemporary architecture and the quest for political and social relevance.

Journal of Architectural Education 67, no.1: 17-23.

7.See Chapter 6: Revolutionaries or Dropouts in Scott, Felicity D. Architecture or Techno-utopia: Politics after Modernism.

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2007.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN / 17

Fig. 1.12 : Bernard Tschumi, Parc de la Villette , 1982-83.

Folie 2

Fig. 1.13 : Spiller Farmer Architects, Vitriolic Column, 1986.

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Fig. 1.11 : Archizoom, No Stop City, 1970.

“City, assembly line of social issues, ideology and theory of the metropolis.”

the speculation. In building the ‘condition’, or simulating the fiction through dialogue, the ‘difference’ of the speculation from reality i.e. the conjectural leaps it takes become more accesible through experience.

All of these led to a proliferation of critical thought in mainstream architecture as well as the creation of a new roles for design through the agency of the fictional.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN / 19

Fig. 2.1 : Benjamin Ferns, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 2015.

Anamorphic collage

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Characteristics of Speculative Design Practice Chapter 2

“The challenge is to blur the boundaries between the real and the fictional, so that the visionary becomes more real and the real is seen just as one limited possibility, a product of ideology maintained through the uncritical design of a surfeit of consumer goods.”

- Anthony Dunne, Hertzian Tales CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN PRACTICE / 21

Fig. 2.2 : Lebbeus Woods, Lower Manhattan, 1999.

Fig. 2.3 : Place to sit.

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Through the discussion of the history of speculative design, it is apparent that the scope of projects is diverse and the underlying commonalities have to be understood to define what the practice entails, its basic underpinnings and how it can be wielded. Broadly, it adheres to the following characteristics: 1. The design process is in pursuit of inquiry over product or practicality.

2. The use of a hypothetical construct to shift perception.

3. The hypothetical constructs are created by displacing oneself in time, or in space.

4. With the broader aim of communicating or revealing associations through telling of stories.

Each of these has been elaborated on below:

Pursuit of Inquiry The pursuit of these designs is that of inquiry over product, meaning that it is the ideological exploration that primarily informs the design, unabated by the requirement to materialize the design8. It is not about a rejection of tangible expression of design, but rather about the

potential in design when put exclusively in the pursuit of inquiry. This would otherwise go against the nature of contemporary architectural practice that relies on a pervasive use of logic and convention (Tsurumaki, Lewis and Lewis 9). But most importantly, a focus on inquiry creates new roles for design, as critique, experiment, expression and so on. For instance, during the proliferation of high-rises in New York, the architects of the city were in a race to build the tallest skyscraper, busy giving physical expression to the surging aspirations of the metropolis. Juxtapose this with Lebbeus Woods’ drawing titled Lower Manhattan, in which he speculates a future for the city where the Hudson and the East river have been drained revealing the massive granite base atop which rests Manhattan (See Fig 2.2). In Woods own words, “..the exposure of the rock base completely changes the scale relationship between the city and its environment. The new scale relationship is not about huge blockbuster buildings; it’s not about towers and skyscrapers. It’s about the relationship of the relatively small human scratchings on the surface of the earth compared to the earth itself.” (Woods, Without Walls par. 14) This simple shift brings to light a planetary scale by which the tallest skyscraper is dwarfed, an unseen reality that cannot be dominated. And with one image the naked ambition of the skyscraper comes undone, such is the potential of critical thought, enabled by a speculative future. In this way, displacing oneself from the given parts of reality using a hypothetical scenario creates the space for “that willing suspension of disbelief” (Coleridge) where preconceptions can be challenged.

It is important here to understand the role that perception plays in the making and communication of a different way of seeing, because the basis of speculative design rests on the notion that we perceive the world through the lens of individually constructed fictions, and it is by a displacement from this state that new meanings can be discovered.

8. There are several instances, especially in the realm of installation or temporary public projects where speculative design practice leads to a built intervention, it is to be noted that the stance here is not that all works don’t transcend the paper space, but that even in the cases where there is a physical intervention, it is still in lieu of the inquiry, as will be illustrated in chapter three.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN PRACTICE / 23

Fig. 2.4 : Speculative History Parsa Khalili, Campus Martius East, 2013-15.

Reassembling Constantinople through the lens of Piranesi’s Campus Martius.

Fig. 2.6 : Speculative Future Kirsty Badenoch, New Lohachara, 2013.

Fish-eye blueprint for re-engineering of the water cycle.

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Fig. 2.5 : Alternative Present Superstudio, Continuous Monement, 1969.

Fig. 2.7 : Kirsty Badenoch, New Lohachara, 2013.

Looking up from inside the Great well, Venice in the distance.

Basis of Perception The individual perceives the world by ‘ordering an assembly’ of data from reality that is “refracted through our imagination”, (Duncombe 18) into individually constructed fictions.

This is not to say that there is no objective reality, but that it is in making sense of the real that we give it meaning, and it is through these meanings that we live our lives, through the stories we tell ourselves. This sense making is influenced by habits, theories, biases, conventions, the imagination and so on resulting in a uniquely crafted fiction in each person’s mind. Many aspects of these fictions are shared in nature, especially at the level of the social groups one belongs to such as family, country, religious community, the classroom, professional community etc. but across cultures, typically, there would be differences in even basic understandings (See fig 2.4, 2.5) because the “way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe” (Berger, Blomberg and Fox 8).

The building blocks of these fictions are suppositions, or connections, which can differ from person to person. It is by bringing forth these latent differences, by means of a displacement, that new associations can be forged. Just as in a joke, which creates a setting, or premise, that allows a deviation from social decorum by enjoying an otherwise repressed aspect of the mind (Freud) using humor as a medium. Thereby it reveals a different way of looking at something, or an unspoken truth. The initial displacement (the premise) allows the ‘difference’ to be brought out, and a new association is made or an existent association surfaces as a result. Similarly, in speculative design practice, the speculation uses displacement, to create the conditions for inhabitation and subsequently presents a different way of seeing, thus creating a space where new meanings can be formed. This is primarily done in design by using time and space9 as means to create the fictive aspect, to simulate the displacement.

Displacement through Time Time is one of the ways we situate ourselves, implying a present, and consequently a future and a past. Conventionally, the past is viewed as history, and the future as a fiction. However, if we view our present, past and future as existing simultaneously then the present is a creator of both the past and the future.

According to this understanding, the future is not predetermined, not predictable, and yet it can be influenced (Voros 1). This is crucial in speculative design practice which often uses the future to situate the work. A retrospective imagination of the past also brings forth important findings. This leads to the categorization of works based on the use of time into three types, namely, Speculative futures, Alternate presents (Auger 12) and Speculative histories that are based on the inquiries: How things can be, why things are the way they are and how things could have been, respectively.

It is also relevant to address the ‘kinds’ of futures/pasts that are used. (Fig. 2.12) Voros’ diagram has been extrapolated to illustrate that speculative design projects situate typically lie outside the probable and preferable realities and are positioned in the larger realm of ‘possible’ realities10. This implies that the practice is not concerned with predicting future outcomes but rather exploring potentials.

9. Space is not referred to here in the tectonic sense of the word, rather, to denote position.

10. Outside the possible field is the larger and undefined impossible or unknowable futures. Referring to Michio Kaku’s categorization, even in this space there are classes of impossibilities, relevant to speculative design practice are those that do not cross over into the realm of fantasy, i.e. Class I impossibilities (21).

CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN PRACTICE / 25

Fig. 2.8 : Creation of Fictional World, ‘Worlding’

Peter Cook, Plug-in City, 1962-64.

Medium Pressure area.

Fig. 2.10 : Buckminster Fuller, Dome over Mid-town Manhattan, 1960.

The geodesic dome is 3km in radius, to literally create a controlled micro-climate.

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Fig. 2.9 : Intervention in a Familiar Environment Suraksha Bhatla, Sharan Sundar, Shanty-Scaper, 2015.

Fig 2.12 : Diagram Classes of the Future

Displacement through Space The other key way we situate ourselves is through place, or its abstract form, space.

Displacement through space entails the creation of a scenario that changes the conditions of the place, thereby changing its meaning. This change, or shift, can vary in degree, ranging from the creation of an entirely different world11, to introducing a small shift in a familiar context. It is important to note that these two ways used to create a displacement, i.e. time and space, are not mutually exclusive and often both methods are used simultaneously. The position of the speculation in the field of time and space i.e. it’s measure of displacement can be determined by a Causal layered analysis study12 (Inayatullah 820). However, this is out of the scope of this thesis.

Scenario Building As discussed above, speculative design practice involves the use of displacement to simulate a fictional scenario. The designer uses time or space to create a hypothetical construct, so as to situate the work. The manner in which this scenario is established is through a telling of the changed conditions in the fiction, of how they came to be, or, what they have led to. Since it is not immediately apparent how this fictional scenario has occurred, this necessitates the author establish a sequence of events, that can directly or indirectly imply causality. In doing so, the speculation becomes a story, the designer assumes the role of an author, and a narrative is formed. This brings me to the essence of speculative design, that it is an act of storytelling, using design as a medium. It is a forgotten truth, that design is foremost a language. In its isolation from society, the story telling role of architecture is lost in translation, remaining a figment of the architect’s imagination. This aspect is rediscovered through the crafting of the speculation which entails creating the fictional world of the story, i.e. the diegesis13.

11. As is typical of the sci-fi genre where both time and space are extensively used to create new worlds, or diegetic prototypes (Kirby 43 ) as they are termed by film scholars.

12. The Causal layered analysis study classifies the framing of the subject of study in terms of four levels: litany (trends/ problems); social causes; social/cultural structures; and metaphor or myth (collective archetypes).

13. The concept of the diegesis will be elaborated on in the methodology sub-section.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECULATIVE DESIGN PRACTICE / 27

Fig. 3.0.1 : Mark Lombardi, Narrative Structures series, 1994.

Lombardi’s meticulous visual narratives represent the flow of money in scandals. His work dwells in the realm of cartography, of and intangible kind, mapping the complex connections in the proverbial paper trail.

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Narrative Theory & Case Studies Chapter 3

“What is spectacle? By default, most people think of throwing Christians to the lions, parading missiles through Red Square, or maybe the Ice Capades. But spectacle is something more. It is a way of making an argument. Not through appeals to reason, rationality, and self-evident truth, but instead through story and myth, fears and desire, imagination and fantasy. It realizes what reality cannot represent. It is the animation of an abstraction, a transformation from ideal to expression. Spectacle is a dream on display.�

- Stephen Duncombe, Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy NARRATIVE THEORY & CASE STUDIES / 29

Fig. 3.0.12 : Madelon Vriesendorp, Flagrant Délit, animation with Teri Wehn-Damisch for French TV, 1979.

Storyboard for Animation.

Fig. 3.0.13 : Madelon Vriesendorp, Flagrant Délit, 1975.

Looking up from inside the Great well, Venice in the distance.

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Methodology The practice of speculative design is motivated by story-telling. It seeks to explore ideas in the form of narratives using design as a language of expression. As is often the case, design may not be the only medium employed, but also film, game play and literature are used. The narrative draws on various tools to communicate the story, to this end other mediums are often used in conjunction with each other, design being one such. This thesis will focus on the structuring of the narrative itself, and therefore, to understand the dynamics of these stories, they have to be looked at from a narrative perspective.

Narratology is used to unravel the underlying story in the work, in particular, I shall refer to the framework of Narrative fiction theory put forth by Shlomith Kenan in Narrative Fiction: Contemporary Poetics (New Accents). This theory talks about the various aspects of narrative structure from the lens of three concepts: the story (an abstraction of the events and participants from the narration), the text (the representation of the story through its telling), and narration (the process of creating the text). These three concept are interdependent and are explained in the theory as follows: In the first part, The Story, the author explains its two main components, events and characters. A sequence of events forms a story. Events are combined through temporal succession14 which in turn establishes causality, that can be explicitly stated or implied.

In the author’s words, “the character is a construct, put together by the reader from various indications dispersed throughout the text (Kenan 38).” We can understand them through their traits and qualities. There is also the concept of the gap in the narrative, spaces of ambiguity between events where it is up to the reader to establish meaning or causality.

Fig 3.0.7 : Diagram Causality

The Text forms the second part of the volume and is understood in terms of time, characterization and focalization. In the text, the order, duration and frequency of events determine the pace of the story whereas characterization refers to trait building that can either be defined or indirectly presented through speech and environment. Focalization is the stance taken by the narrative, it’s point of view. The designer, in assuming the role of a narrator of the story, takes a position with respect to the diegesis, i.e. the fictional world of the story, and the text reflects this particular point of view. This is referred to as the focalizer.

Some relevant ways in which the focalizer is established is through the perception of the narrator in time and space and its ideological focus. Illustrated below : 14. Temporal succession in stories can follow a linear chronological order but largely do not, and tend to be multilinear.

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Fig. 3.0.2 : Superstudio, Continuous Monument, 1969.

Storyboard

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Fig 3.0.8 : Diagram Types of Focalization

The third part talks about The Narration from the perspective of the levels and voices it occupies and how speech is represented in a narrative. The narrative implies the existence of the narrator and the narratee. The narrator’s role can be studied in terms of the narrative level she occupies, her perceptibly and reliability. The narratee is also looked at using the same variables, they can be either extradiegetic or intradiegetic in their position relative to the narrative. These terms are illustrated in the diagram below :

Fig 3.0.9 : Diagram Positions of Narrator / Narratee

As spoken of earlier, the diegesis refers to the fictional world of the story. It comes from a larger distinction in storytelling, the idea of diegesis15 and mimesis16. These terms come from

the thinking of Plato who first made this distinction in the use of speech. Diegesis refers to the relating of stories by ‘telling’ (through narration) whereas mimeses relate stories by ‘showing’ through representation (through action). However, in narrative fiction theory the implied dichotomy between these terms has been reconciled as a progressive scale with different degrees of telling, ranging from a Diegetic summary (bare report) to Free direct discourse (first person monologue, direct speech) (Kenan 112).

Application of Framework I will use these elements of narrative fiction theory, to discern four key aspects: the narrators, the characters, the use of environment and the means of focalization. After an analysis of how these elements have been positioned to create the speculation, their relationships will be elaborated on to reveal the structure of the narrative.

To clarify, environment is treated not only only as a character building tool but as similar to the speech of a character, it’s design language will be looked at. It may be that the built environment is part of the environment of the narrative, but it is often not the case.

15. From the Greek, diegēsis meaning “narration”

16. From the Greek, mimeîsthai, “to imitate” in turn from mîmos, “a mime”

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Fig 3.0.4 : Medium- Sculpture Rachel Whiteread, House, 1993.

A temporary public sculpture of a concrete cast of the inside of a Victorian style house, the cast captures every imprint of the house, presenting ‘space’ in a radical new light.

Fig 3.0.6 : Medium- Graphic Novel Marc-Antoine Mathieu, Mémoire morte, 2000.

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Selection Criteria for Case studies The case studies have been selected from a pool of speculative design work on the basis of diversity of narrative structure. Within the realm of architecture, we see a certain leaning toward narrative styles, often authoritative and narrated from a distance. This is why it was important to include mediums such as: game play, where there is an interactive dimension to the story; film for its use of the camera as a lens to tell a story, a passive but omnipresent narrator that embodies perspective as a relative position (Berger, Blomberg and Fox 18); and performance art which offers a digression from the traditional role of a character by involving the viewer to such a large extent in the story through participation. The graphic novel is a medium that specializes in a constant play between intradiegetic and extradiegetic narration, however it has not been included here only to limit the number of case studies required to build an argument and extract a pattern, it can be taken up as a separate study entirely. The selected case studies are: 1 / Einstein Tomb by Lebbeus Woods (Architecture) 2 / Museum of Lost Volumes by Nemestusio (Architecture) 3 / Metropolis by Fritz Lang(Film) 4 / Monument Valley by Ustwo Games (Game) 5 / Clean Air pod by Ant Farm (Performance Art) 6 / Conical Intersect by Gordon Matta Clark (Performance Art)

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Fig. 3.0.10 : Perry Kulper, California History Museum Competition , 2000.

Fast Twitch, Site Plan.

Fig. 3.0.11 : Perry Kulper, California History Museum Competition , 2000.

Thematic drawing.

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Outliers Most work that involves speculative design can be looked at using narrative theory as it has a narrative structure, but there are also a few outliers which are non-narrative. If there is no discernible temporal organization (Kenan 7), then a sequence of events cannot be formed or there may be a great number of possible sequences of events, in which case there would be no story and consequently no narrative structure because “the presence or absence of a story is what distinguishes narrative from non-narrative texts.” (Kenan 16) An example of this type of work can be found in Perry Kulper’s approach to representation.

There is no clear hierarchy implied in the manner of drawing, the separation between object and context (analogous to character and environment in narrative theory) are blurred. With respect to his entry for the California museum competition, Kulper says “A variety of new event infrastructures prompt a tensional play between tyrannies of control and borderless wandering.” (Pohl and Nájera par 8) Although there are identifiable elements in the drawing, there is no clear intersection or overlap between them. A better way to look at this project would be by identifying a set of relationships that can be studied, evolving patterns that can lead to the formation of a language. If there were a video of how the drawing was made, then we could extract a sequence and from it a narrative.

Note : Firstly, the case studies should be first read as independent analyses of their individual narrative structures. Parallels and patterns in overall narrative structure will be discussed in ‘General Inferences’ after all the case studies have been presented. Secondly, the text of the analysis of each case study should be read as a continuous one, the sub headings are for purposes of reference and are not intended to impede the flow of the text.

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Fig. 3.1.1 : Lebbeus Woods, Einstein Tomb, 1980.

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1 / Einstein Tomb

by Lebbeus Woods, 1980

As the mandala symbol presages the effect of Relativity so Einstein’s thought bears into the modern world ancient wisdom regarding the unity of nature the oneness of all things.

His quest for a Unified Field Theory was an attempt to give meaning to the ancient dream of Totality.

In this way he advanced beyond reason, bringing Western philosophy and science nearer to the synthetical realms of Pythogoras, Heraclitus and the mystics of the Cabala. [] After his death, Einstein’s body was cremated And scattered over the Atlantic Ocean. [] …has conceived a Tomb...” [] His tomb—if it is to house his remains—must “not only honor his memory” but also embody his ideals. [] The Tomb is a vessel journeying outward on a beam of light emitted from [Earth], following an immense and subtle arc through the stars. For eons it will inhabit the dominions of space, until in a distant time it must return to the world of its beginning. Thus a cycle the epicycle of Space and Time will close. On that remotest day the dark corridors of the infinite will again become thresholds for departure, fading shores on the dark gulf of [eternity]. [] The form of the Tomb has always been known; it existed as a sign in ancient codices, on countless ritual maps of exploration. []

The Tomb has always existed -…..(jump to pg 12) In the same way, the humanity and suffering of a man—we may call him Einstein—are an apotheosis of passion And coldness.

The life of a man is driven between extremes, between the dim and vast regions of imaginative thought and the more narrow bright and lucid ones of wisdom, at one moment elevated by heroic vision, at yet another turned upside down mockingly self-conscious, now finding harmony and light, now dissonance, decay and darkness, until the cycle of a life is woven wholly into immortal ones of the world.

So it was with Einstein.

“In his life he was compassionate and loving an active champion of humanist values.

In the arcane language of his work He was a poet, possessed by revelation isolated from others by an elusive and awesome vision.” [] …as finite reduction. [] So it was with [ ]. [] This vessel, this tomb containing nothing wandering on a random pulse of light has always existed. Tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, it will appear among the fixed and stable constellations of night. Even now it approaches from [limitless] possibility.

All random journeys all the immortal corridors begin and end in the vaulted space of Earth’s night under the vagrant light of stars.

- Lebbeus Woods, Pamphlet Architecture no.6

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Fig 3.1.2 : Tibetan Mandala.

Fig. 3.1.4 : Tomb guided by a beam of light.

Fig 3.1.3 : Representation of the Mandala through the rotation and revolution of the Tomb.

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Analysis

Narrator This is a story about time and its vehicle, memory. The narrator begins in the past, introducing the Newtonian notion of time, as a linear one that extends incrementally and exists eternally, it’s model of the universe is of ‘infinite measure’. He then contrasts this with Einstein’s thinking, which posited that time was instead finite but elastic, related to the behavior of matter and energy17, positing that the universe has a finite duration and space, but is infinitely renewed and perpetuated, achieving another kind of eternity. A representation of this thought is found in the mandala, itself a schema for understanding the universe that implies centered around the notion that time is circular and not linear.

All this builds up to introduce the main character of the story, the Tomb . The narrator leaves a gap in the narrative in the events leading up to the conception of the Tomb: “After his death, Einstein’s body Was cremated And scattered over the Atlantic Ocean. [ ] …has conceived a Tomb...”

It is unclear to the narratee who the creation of the Tomb has been attributed to. By not introducing this character, the narrator avoids stepping into the diegesis as a character and also maintains a distance as a narrator.

Character The main character of the story is the Tomb18. It is modelled on the ideas of the Einsteinian Universe, a reflection of Einstein himself who is a passive character in the narration, a memory. He is described as a ‘bearer of ancient wisdom’, a champion of human values in his daily life and a poet in the language of his work. The narrator’s reverence for Einstein is apparent, more so when he talks about “the humanity and suffering of a man” (Woods, Pamphlet Architecture no.6 12) can be represented by Einstein, elevating Einstein’s struggle.

The Tomb, ‘a vessel’ and vehicle of Einstein’s memory, derives its physical expression from the implied axes of the mandala19 . Its existence as an object in space rotating on its axis references the circular aspect of cyclic time, completing the metaphor (See Fig. 3.1.3).

17. From Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2, from his theory of special relativity that first proposed the concept of mass energy equivalence.

18. Capitalization has been used by the narrator to emphasize and characterize the tomb.

19. The word Mandala is from the Sanskrit language and literally translates to ‘circle’. It represents a schema, for understanding the universe. There are many layers referenced in the mandala, such as the cosmic relation to celestial bodies; the notion of time as being circular, or infinite; and the nature of human relationships and community. This is intended to create an understanding of the wholeness of existence in the universe, a centering, which is also implicit in the use of a circle as a framework to situate these ideas in.

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Fig 3.1.5 : Environment

(left) creation of the Tomb in Paperspace; (right) traversing the Universe

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Light is a secondary character that guides the tomb, giving its existence meaning by guiding its path through the stars, eventually bringing it back to earth. The metaphor of circular time appears at many levels, in the rotation of the tomb by referencing the mandala, and its arc through the stars as a satellite bound to earth, and as an architecture of memory in the form of a tomb.

Environment The tomb is pictured first inhabiting the infinite Cartesian space of architectural creation rotating on its axis, in the internal mind, and then as an object moving through the universe, which represents infinity of the external world (See Fig. 3.1.5). This use of environment invokes the eternal nature of Einstein’s ideas. It is also a reflection of the narrator’s views on the dichotomy of how man reconciles his humanity and suffering,

Inferences The narrator locates himself as a distant observer, the narrative is entirely told from his point of view. By using gaps in the narrative he avoids being personified in any way and uses time as a focalizer to assume a pan chronic stance, i.e., being able to simultaneously occupy different points in time.

The environment is used in two ways, first to establish the Cartesian space of all possibilities and then against the backdrop of the universe, both these environments are ‘infinite’ in nature, and the Tomb is the only subject within them, this use of infinite space can be viewed as a metaphor for the immortality of Einstein’s ideals and memory.

The narrative follows the Tomb’s journey, vaguely describing its creation but also saying that “The Tomb has always existed”. It references the circular aspect of Einstein’s ideas within the narrative itself, such as through the recurrence of identical statements:

“So it was with Einstein.

“In his life he was compassionate and loving an active champion of humanist values.

In the arcane language of his world He was a poet, possessed By revelation Isolated from others By and elusive and awesome vision.” …as finite reduction. …So it was with [

].”

And also in the journey of the Tomb itself, as it travels the universe for eons to one-day return Earth following am ‘immense and subtle arc”, as memories do.

Fig 3.1.6 : Diagram Narrative Structure

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Fig. 3.2.1 : Neyran Turan, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee; Museum of Lost Volumes, 2015.

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2 / Museum of Lost Volumes

by Neyran Turan, Anastasia Yee & Melis Ugurlu, 2015

“Once upon a time in the Zero-carbon Hedonistic Era, the entire world was finally sustainable. Cleanenergy technologies were abundant and ubiquitous. Large quantity of energy-efficient light bulbs, wind turbines, electric car batteries and solar panels would come with a price, however. Since all of these clean-energy technologies relied on Rare Earths, a group of seventeen chemical elements and their abundant extraction from the earth’s surface, significant worldwide increase in their demand led to the scarcity of these minerals. Nearly all of the Rare Earths were discovered in the 19th century but their use mostly proliferated in the Zero-carbon Hedonistic Era because of their association with green technologies. Not alarmed by the possible tragic outcomes of the further mining of these minerals, the world celebrated their delirious consumption with more car batteries and solar panels until very little of these minerals were available. Soon after the depletion of this precious resource was officially announced, in an attempt to prevent major geopolitical conflicts, United Council of Rare Earths was established to promote international co-operation regarding this matter. In its inaugural meeting, the Council members drafted the text of the Declaration by the United Council of Rare Earths, which was signed by all countries. After a long meeting, the unanimous vote was held to ban further Rare Earth mining and to build a museum that would house and preserve remaining Rare Earth mines of the world, and would carry their legacy to future generations. The museum was named as the Museum of Lost Volumes.”

- Neyran Turan, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee, Museum of Lost Volumes

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Fig 3.2.2 : Focalization

Section used as a tool to distance narrator

Fig 3.2.3 & Fig 3.2.4: Environment Flatlands.

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Analysis

Character The story begins by introducing the Zero-carbon Hedonistic Era, as a fictional state of the world, which was, ‘once upon a time’ suggesting it is an account of a fictional history of this world. Although the beginning hints that it is a fairy tale, immediately we are told of the price of this fantasy is the exhaustive mining of Rare Earths, a group of seventeen chemical elements. The reference to these seventeen rare earth minerals is always as Rare Earths, the capitalization of the words indicates emphasis. Further, their subsequent use as a proper noun rather than as adjectives suggests that the group of seventeen elements, the Rare Earths are the characters in the story.

They are said to be discovered in the 19th century, which goes to establish a notion of time for the reader. The narrative continues to describe a sequence of events that lead to the depletion of these minerals through ‘delirious consumption’. The use of terms such as delirious and hedonistic belie the narrator’s ideological stance. This depletion sets up the conditions for the creation of the United Council of Rare Earths that decide to ban further mining to prevent geopolitical conflicts and preserve the remaining mines of the world.

Narrator The narrator positions herself as a distant observer of events, thus using space as a focalizer to assume an authoritative and didactic tone. The climax of the story comes with the final act of the United Council of Rare Earths, which is the creation of a museum around the preserved mines, called the Museum of Lost Volumes intended to carry this legacy forward.

Environment We see in the accompanying visual narrative, images depicting the mines as entities oblivious to the geography of the world. In Fig 3.2.3, portraying the Council meeting, the map of the world recedes into the background, a grid is overlaid on top of it, indicating the world is now covered by a uniform surface, and the mines, like blotches on this landscape, are the leftovers of the Zero-carbon Hedonistic Era. In Fig 3.2.1 we see this world from above, as extra-diegetic observers. The Rare Earths have become relics preserved in glass boxes, frozen objects that humans wander around. Now they serve another kind of consumption. In another part of the museum, represented in Fig 3.2.5, the larger mines, or Lost Volumes, are encased in larger structures that attempt to recapture the lost volume by juxtaposing it with new ones. Their objectification is made apparent by cutting a section through the museum, the grid appears in the background again to use environment to emphasize contrast (See Fig. 3.2.2). Both the birds eye view and the use of section indicate that space has been used as a perceptual focalizer in the narrative.

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Fig 3.2.5 : Museum of Lost Volumes.

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Inferences Much of the text is spent in establishing the conditions that formed this diegesis. A definition style of narration and rationalizing done actively in text serve to establish the narrator as an authoritative figure. The narrator occupies a position in the future with respect to the story of the creation of the museum, recounting the events in and direct and explicit manner, almost like a historical report. The character that is the Rare Earths are absent in the narrative and it is their absence that the museum commemorates.

It is interesting to note that here what is considered to be a desirable ideology- sustainability has been juxtaposed with ‘delirious consumption’ to bring out the inherent contradiction of sustainability for its own sake, and is therefore a critique of the ideology itself as being ignorant of the its larger influence. But the use of sustainability is also to provide cover for a deeper critique of mining in general, of the mining of desired elements that are being unearthed at a rapid rate today. Thus the story serves as a cautionary tale.

Fig 3.2.6 : Diagram Narrative Structure

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Fig. 3.3.1 : Fritz Lang, Metropolis, 1927.

Still from the Story of the Tower of Babel

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3 / Metropolis

by Fritz Lang, 1927

“ Come let us build us a tower whose top may reach unto the stars! And on top of the tower, we will write the words: Great is the world and its Creator! And great is Man! ...but the minds that had conceived the Tower of Babel could not build it. The task was too great. So they hired hands for wages. But the hands that built the Tower of Babel knew nothing of the dream of the brain that had conceived it.

One man’s hymns of praise became other men’s curses. People spoke the same language, but could not understand each other. Head and Hands need a mediator! The mediator between Head and Hands must be the Heart! “ - Thea von Harbou, Metropolis

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Fig 3.3.2 : The Capitalist City.

Fig 3.3.3 : The Machine.

Fig 3.3.4 : The Workers’ City.

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Fig 3.3.5 : The New Tower of Babel.

Analysis

The film Metropolis is a sci-fi film about a fictional utopic city, about 100 years into the future20 based on Thea von Harbou’s novel of the same name. The story is about the reconciliation three ideas: the brain, the hands and the heart against the backdrop of a Utopic city. For the purposes of this analysis the characters in the story that represent these three ideas are studied alongside the other aspects of the narrative help to support them, specifically, the environment.

Characters The Brain is represented by Joh Frederson, the formidable creator and director of the Capitalist city, father of Freder and father figure to the city of Metropolis (Fig. 3.3.2). He controls the city from the New Tower of Babel, which is where the Capitalist city radiates out from (Fig. 3.3.5 ).

The Hands are represented by the workers, they form a collective character and are not embodied in just one person, although in the narrative they are spoken for by a representative.

The workers live in the depths below the Machine (See Fig 3.3.3) in what is referred to as the Workers’ City (See Fig. 3.3.4). It is diametrically opposite to the Capitalist City in every way, it is the manifestation of Dystopia to the Capitalist City’s’ Utopia.

The Heart is represented by Freder, the son of Joh Frederson, he is the voice of empathy in the story, his role as the son compels his father to see the workers suffering as his own after he is found to be trapped in the drowning Workers’ City and his love for Maria brings the Joh and the workers together in the climax of the film (See Fig. 3.3.9).

Narrators There are only two female characters in the film of any import21 , the first is Hel, wife of Joh Frederson and the love interest of Rotwang the inventor. She is said to have died giving birth to Freder, but her memory haunts both men. The other is Maria, a daughter of one of the workers in the Workers’ City whose face is subsequently used as the face of the robot that attempts to wreak havoc over Metropolis and incite the workers to revolt. The true Maria is an activist for the emancipation of the workers and lends her voice to their plight. However, she does not belong to this character group, instead through her dialogue and the telling of the story of Babel she transcends her character life and becomes the second narrator of the story.

The main narrator of the story, as is often the case with silent films, is highly perceptible and participates to a large degree in the narration along with the direct speech of the characters.

In Metropolis the narrator does not reveal her ideological views until the end of the film, when Joh and the workers must reconcile their relationships after the revolt, stating “Head 20. The use of time as a focalizer enables the telling of a story about the creation of Utopias and Dystopias.

21. There are several women in the Garden of the Sons of the Rich, although they serve as mere objects for the pleasure of the Sons, another one of the fruits of the garden.

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Fig 3.3.6 : Contrast

Eternal Sunshine- In the Stadium of the “Sons of the Rich.”

Fig 3.3.7 : Contrast

Eternal Darkness- In the Subterranean Machine Town of the Laborers.

Fig 3.3.8 : Meta-narrative

The construction of the Tower of Babel.

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and hands want to join together, but they don’t have the heart to do it...Oh, mediator, show them the way to each other.... THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN HEAD AND HANDS MUST BE THE HEART!” The latter statement appears once before in the film, at the conclusion of the Story of the Tower of Babel which is a story within a story, occupying a metadiegetic level to the narrative. It is about the construction of the Tower of Babel, visualized by ‘the minds’, that spurs a mutiny amongst the slaves who were tasked with building the colossal tower.

Environment These three abstractions of society are also represented in the built environment of Metropolis in the form of the Capitalist City, the Machine and the Workers City. They are not directly analogous to the the Brain, the Hands and the Heart in that the Machine is its own entity that epitomizes the conflict between the Brain and the Hands.

The Workers’ City is filled with non- descript and dull buildings, and lit only by artificial light.

This creates a depressed atmosphere, so much so that the workers coming out of the elevator continue to walk into their city as huddled masses in files of six. The environment is used here to emphasize, reflects the workers’ state of mind and bring out the uniformness and monotony of life there.

The use of environment in the Capitalist City is similarly used to lay emphasis on the grandiose and opulent lives of its inhabitants. The perspective is heightened; the New Tower of Babel is shown as a white megastructure at the center of the city, separating it from the rest; the other buildings have individual character to a certain extent. All of these methods are used to show hierarchy in the Capitalist City and to contrast it with the lack of individuality in the Workers’ City.

Between these two worlds is the realm of the Machine. The notion of time begins to get skewed here, the 24 hour clocks are modified for the workers who have 20 hour days with 10 hour work shifts. As they are funneled into the Machine in one scene, we see another file of workers come out at the end of their shift, marching at half the speed of the incoming workers.

Their movements are mechanical, ordered and almost involuntary in nature, especially so when operating the Heart Machine, as though they are part of the Machine.

Another contrast lies in the nature of gathering spaces of the two cities. In the Capitalist city, the community gathers at the Yoshiwara, a night club where the youth of the city flock to for

pleasure. The Sons of the Rich roam about the Eternal Gardens and the Club of the Sons of the Rich (See Fig. 3.3.6), in one scene in particular, at the stadium, we see the vast space being used by a handful of people. In the Workers City, the community convenes in the dark cavernous space of the catacombs, here they listen to Maria’s stories against a backdrop of crosses bursting forth from the ground.

Inferences The narration relies heavily on the use of environment to invoke emotions and build traits of its characters and character groups through analogy. Freder’s chance encounter with the machine and subsequent time spent as a worker brings out the disparity in the parallel realities that exist in Metropolis. Contrast is also used in emphasizing the traits of Joh Frederson, in the scene where the Machine breaks down, we see Freder consumed with anxiety whereas

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Fig 3.3.9 : The workers mobilize after the destruction of the Workers’ City.

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Joh reacts by firing Josaphat for not informing him of the breakdown first.

The narrator in Metropolis is perceived in the inter-titles and from the camera angle. He occupies an extradiegetic position, with a panoramic view of things happening in various places. But this is balanced by the use of narrators as characters such as Maria. The story of the Tower of Babel is of particular relevance because of its meta-diegetic nature and the insight that that provides of the story of Metropolis.

The environment has been used to echo the state of the character, it is in tandem with the thematic elements of the story, a utopia sits atop a bleak dystopia; the capitalist city soars to the sky, and the Workers city recedes to the underground. The machine straddles the two worlds, creator of one and destroyer of another, and in another sense, it renders the Utopia unethical bankrupt and the dystopia as a center of hope and aspiration. This betrays an essential trait of most Utopias and Dystopias, that they will always be elements of one in the other, they are two sides of the same coin and not the opposite conditions.

Fig 3.3.10 : Diagram Narrative Structure

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Fig. 3.4.1 : Ustwo Games, Monument Valley, 2014.

Still from Chapter VI: The Labyrinth.

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4 / Monument Valley

by Ustwo Games, 2014

“Whoever you are, whoever you think you are, believe that you’re also a silent princess. Your name is Ida. Your journey is one through a forgotten landscape of twisting staircases and morphing castles, atop floating stones defiantly crossing an angry sea, within dimly-lit caverns cobwebbed with ruins M.C. Escher could only grasp at in a dream state.”

-Thomas Yates’ review of the game Monument Valley in House of Cards

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Fig 3.4.2 : Introduction to Monument Valley.

Fig 3.4.3 : The rotation of the architecture reveals two impossible positions of the monument.

Fig 3.4.4 : Event

The ‘button’ instigates the emergence of a staircase, enabling the narrative to move forward.

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Analysis

In the first scene of the game, we see Ida, in a darkened space with a path, when we tap, she walks there, we do not know why or to what end, but if we turn the lever, the path begins to rotate, and an impossible geometry is created22, allowing her to walk ahead. (See Fig. 3.4.2) On reaching the top of the stairs we see a vista, and the words Monument Valley. And so the journey begins with these basic notions, the character is Ida, there are paths she must follow and the architecture of these monuments are not as they seem.

Narrators We are then introduced to ‘The Garden: in which Ida embarks on a quest for forgiveness’, such intertitles between chapters give us clues as to Ida’s motives, indicating that the narrator occupies a position outside the narrative along with narratee, as is apparent from the height and distance maintained by the player from the monuments and Ida while playing. In the third chapter, ‘The Hidden Temple in which Ida has an unexpected meeting’, Ida meets the ghost of Monument Valley who says, “Long have these old bones waited in darkness.

How far have you wandered silent princess?

Why are you here?”

There is a contradiction apparent in these questions, (how would a silent princess answer her?) indicating that these are gaps to be filled in by the player. Here the ghost acts as a narrator within the story. As the chapters unfold, Ida often meets this mysterious ghost who advances the narrative by sharing enigmatic pieces of knowledge and by asking questions.

The silent princess never answers and it is up to the interpretation of the player, or narratee to fill in the gaps, thereby creating a version of the story in each player’s mind. In this space of ambiguity, the narratee also becomes narrator.

Environment This liminal space of understanding is reflected in the way in which spatial dynamics have been manipulated in the game, it relies on the point of view from which the ‘little worlds’ (Pluralsight par 7) are perceived, quite literally. The sequence (Fig. 3.4.3 ) shows how a rotation of the rings can simultaneously occupy two spatial realities, when viewed from the same two dimensional plane.

Events As the chapters unfold, we learn to look for the doors that lead nowhere, the buttons (Fig. 22. The Penrose triangle or the Penrose tribar is an impossible object created by the artist Oscar Reutersvärd in 1934. It has since been used in M.C Escher’s work most notably in Waterfall (1961), a lithograph depicting a water wheel which combines two Penrose triangles.

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Fig 3.4.5 : Meta-narrative

Chapter IX: The Descent.

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3.4.4) that instigate a change in the architecture, the indented elements that cause things to slide, the levers that make things rotate (as shown in Fig. 3.4.6). They become friendly stepping stones that open up new possible objectives, functioning as events would in a narrative. They are indicators of action and change, and the player is always searching for these clues to guide the way to an unknown end. The doors in particular are gateways that at one time they may lead to the crypts of Monument Valley and encounters with the spirit guide, at another they may just open to another architectural puzzle to be solved. The liminal nature of the door is taken to an extreme, where on entering a door Ida comes out on a completely unconnected part of the world (See Fig. 3.4.7). This is taken a step further in chapter eight, ‘The Box in which there lie strange delights’, where Ida enters a door in one of the four worlds in the box and comes out in a different one each time in spite of all four worlds occupying the same finite physical space of the Box. (refer Fig. 3.4.8) In this way, any expectation of the familiar is worn down and the player adapts to the mechanics of the Valley.

The star pointed mat is the final destination of each chapter, where Ida is sure to find something new in her hat every time. It is a beautiful symbolism of the idea that what she seeks is already within her, it is the journey that reveals its existence.

Metadiegetic detour There is one exception to the conclusion style in chapter nine, ‘The Descent in which there is nobody left to forgive us’ (Fig. 3.4.5). At the beginning we find Ida on a pile of rocks in the middle of an ocean in heavy rain. She finds a red flower there, there is no indicator of what to do next, just a staircase descending into the water, as she climbs down the staircase to an empty platform, the pile of rocks rises, revealing a mountain underneath. After the mountain appears, the weather clears and the door leads to a subterranean step-well, the spatial inverse of the mountain above. At the base of this, lies a tunnel that leads to subterranean passages.

Descending further into the bowels of the earth, Ida encounters the ghost who says, “Long ages lie heavy on old bones in these buried halls.

Sacred geometry was our pride, our downfall.

But forever will our monuments stand in this valley.”

Once again, the ghost assumes the position of a narrator, embodying the memory of the valley.

Ida makes her way through the bed rock, to finally arrive at a vast grid of tombs. The path rises to take Ida to a particular tomb, where she lays the red flower to rest. In a particularly beautiful scenario in this chapter, as Ida descends into the depths she reached a platform and our view to her is blocked by a stone wall, however, there is a mirror on the other side of the path to help guide her. As she walks behind the stone wall Ida’s is reflected as a white bird with a crown, and we get a glimpse of her true self, and a clue as to what she is searching for.

Characters It is apparent that Ida is an important character by this point, but this chapter in particular tells us a lot about the inner life of Ida, we see that she is trapped in her body. We have also been introduced to the sub-characters in the story. In chapter five, ‘The Spire In which Ida encounters the bothersome crow people’ Ida meets23 the crow people who are a character group in the game that serve as obstacles by squawking at and blocking Ida’s path if she

23. The crow people appear in previous chapters as spectators such as in chapter four, ‘Water Palace in which Ida learns new ways to walk’

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Fig 3.4.6 : Two behaviors of the monument.

Fig 3.4.7 : Use of the Gap

Wlaking through doors that aren’t linked lead the player to new worlds.

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crosses them. At other times their patrolling movement allows a remote controlling of what Ida is able to do at a separate part of the object24.

Chapter six, ‘The Labyrinth in which Ida meets, the totem, a friend’ introduces the totem, which is essentially an anthropomorphized block that helps Ida to resolve spatial conundrums and ternary operation type obstacles, filling in the need for a second character.

However, it becomes evident that the main character of the story are the architectural worlds themselves, the environment. The architecture is the protagonist whose traits and nature is to be explored through trial and error of game play. Ida, the Totem, the crow people and the ghost, are all sub characters that support the narrative that tells a story about impossible and fantastical architecture. The monument also has traits like a character would, being deceitful, playful, veiled in revealing aspects of its nature, it is a puzzle, but it is not mechanical or predictable, it cannot be known in its entirety, it behaves in inexplicable and unexpected ways as a person would. The chapters each explore a different architectural landscape in an escalating the level of manipulation of spatial laws, thus there is a complexity and development of the architecture as the chapters’ progress. The pivoting and sliding components begin to influence the larger structure through the three dimensional movement of the architectural world in chapter ten where it has been treated as a floating object25. By exploiting the dynamic and interactive nature of game play the rotation of the architecture creates an illusion not only in a two dimensional reading but also in three dimensional movements (See Fig. 3.4.3).

Gaps The use of the gap percolates into every aspect of the storytelling of Monument Valley. The narrative is constructed with questions, sometimes rhetorical but often not; the spatial logic dwells in the gaps between real and imagined (sacred) geometries; Ida’s true self is revealed through the reflection of a mirror; doors are used as conceptual linkages between worlds that aren’t physically linked. Although it is a game, the traditional methods of laying out the rules and objectives upfront have been put aside in lieu of creating a narrative that dwells in the liminal space of the imagination.

Inferences The story of Monument Valley unfurls in the most gradual of ways, tethering to stray thoughts and relying on the player’s imagination to tell its tale of a lost sacred geometry that has been rediscovered by the travels of a silent princess. The manner in which Monument Valley punctures the Fourth wall26 is particularly interesting, using a silent princess that cannot answer the questions asked, therefore addressing and compelling the player to do so.

As mentioned previously, there are two narrators, one is extradiegetic and unnamed and remains outside the diegesis, only guiding the story through the use of intertitles. The other is the ghost who is an intradiegetic narrator, who uses time as a perceptual focalizer in that she is a ghost, who is not of this time but a memory of the Monument Valley.

24. Chapter seven, ‘The Rookery In which a throne lies vacant’

25. This is where the exploration into bending spatial laws transcends Escher’s methods. M.C Escher’s explorations into impossible architecture is extensive, but the medium of drawing renders them as static, the interactive nature of game play brings in a dynamic expression to these impossibilities, which when rotated create another layer of impossibility within the larger impossibility.

26. The fourth wall is concept that stems from the world of Theatre, most stages are composed of three walls ( the backdrop and two wings), the implied fourth wall is a notional one that separates the audience from the actors, both pretend it does not exist.

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Fig 3.4.8 : Chapter VIII: The Box demonstrating the co-existence of impossible architectures in the same physical reality.

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The built environment, rather, the ‘sacred geometry’ is of particular interest here as it is the true protagonist. The game reveals how architecture can be animated without being anthropomorphized. In its character life it is discovered to be playful and deceitful, dynamic even through a two dimensional point of view but always subtly hinting at these traits.

In the realm of ludology, Monument Valley stands as an exemplary work that challenges the norm of conventional gameplay mechanics as achievements and goals have been traded for discoveries.

Fig 3.4.9 : Diagram Narrative Structure

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Fig. 3.5.1 : Ant Farm, Air Emergency, 1970.

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5 / Clean Air Pod or CAP 1500

by Ant Farm, 1970

“As an air raid siren drew U.C. students to lower Sproul Plaza, a monotone loudspeaker voice informed them that an “air failure” had occurred and those who couldn’t escape from the pollution would die within 15 minutes.

The voice invited onlookers to take shelter in the CAP 1500 which, it said, had been tested “in Akron under government contract.” The air system inflating CAP 1500 also screens out deadly pollutants, the voice said.

Those who didn’t go into CAP 1500 were given “negative consensus forms” to fill out before dying.”

- ‘Breathing - That’s Their Bag’, Oakland Tribune, April 22nd, 1970

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Fig 3.5.2 : Clean Air Pod.

Fig 3.5.3 : Diagram Narrative Structure

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Analysis

In this performance piece, staged in the Berkeley campus of University of California in 1970, Ant farm made an inflatable ‘pillow’ called the Clean Air pod. The performance was titled, ‘AirEmergency’ and was part of a three day “teach in” to mark the first ever Earth Day. Narrators The principals of Ant farm, and other men dressed up in white coats as scientists wearing gas masks and protective gear warning the public of the dangers of the air they were breathing at that very moment. One of them was designated a “F-310” which referred to a “human mentad programmed only to answer questions from the press.” They encouraged them to take shelter in the Clean Air pod, even asking staff and students at the university to sign death consent if they chose not to enter. By assuming the role of characters in the fictional future they envisioned, they become intradiegetic narrators.

Characters The character in the story was the passer by. By involving the passerby in the speculation, they become characters themselves. It follows that by unwittingly participating in the experiment, they are also the narratee in the story, to whom the message is addressed.

Environment The ephemeral nature of the plastic sheet is transformed by filling it with air to present a form of shelter, traditionally associated with solid things. The pneumatic bubble is projected as the ‘safe space’ within an otherwise unremarkable an innocuous part of a university campus where there are no obvious signs of contamination or air-pollution.

Inferences The Clean Air pod stands out as an architectural thought experiment because it was not only constructed in reality, but also because it was conceived of as a performance piece with the creators as characters themselves, actively driving the story forward. In doing so the speculation becomes mimetic in nature, and is able to make tangible a fictional context for an experiment in non -traditional forms of shelter (Lewallen and Seid 15). By creating a shelter only thinly separated from the ‘dangerous’ outside, held up not by concrete and steel but by the cumulative strength of molecules of air, the air pod challenges notions of security and brings forth the concern of air contaminants.

In locating a clean air pod in a quiet campus plaza, and somewhat aggressively convincing the character of the imminent danger they were in reveals the idiosyncratic sense of humor of the group. They go so far as to ask the newspaper to report it as if it were in the future, it was published as a forecast for April 22, 1972, two years after the experiment (Kallipoliti).

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Fig 3.6.1 : Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect, 1975.

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6 / Conical Intersect

by Gordon Matta-Clark, 1975

“The site was at 27-29 Rue Beaubourg using two buildings constructed for Mr. and Mrs. Bonnville in 1690, which were among the cast to be demolished in a decade of Gaulist “renovation” of Les Halles.

The project was focused towards the street, angled up with passers by as a silent “son-et-lumière” / and non-u-mentally carved through plaster and time to mark the skeletal steel backdrop of the soonto-be Centre Beaubourg.”

- Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect

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Fig 3.6.2 : Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect, 1975.

Silver dye bleach print

Fig 3.6.3 : Process of De-construction

The three stages of deconstruction: the chipping of the plaster, the formation of the conical void, leading to the complete de-construction of the building.

Fig 3.6.4 : Environment

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Analysis

Conical Intersect was a performance art project in Beaubourg Paris, the site now occupied

by Centre Georges Pompidou. The artist, Gordon Matta Clark, situated the project in two buildings built in 1690 for a Mr. and Mrs. Bonnville, scheduled to be demolished to make way for new construction. He makes a radical incision (Spector) that cut through the two buildings, sculpting the void in the form of a cone.

Characters In the artist’s words, the two buildings were “among the cast to be demolished in a decade of Gaulist “renovation” of Les Halles”. Here, he already views them as characters in a staged performance, and as victims of a larger agenda. They are a worn down pair of buildings much like an old couple against the backdrop of the bearer of modernity, Centre Georges Pompidou. The other character group are the people walking around Les Halles, they look up with quizzical expressions at the curious void, they are the narratees of the story.

Narrators The film that documents the ‘de-construction’ (MoMA qtn.) offers a narrative of how this performance unfolds. We see the two buildings in a run-down state. There are already debris next to them, and a looming block of steel on the other side, their fate seems inevitable.

This is when we see a small hole being carved on the wall. The void here is an ‘event’ in the narrative, instigating reactions. More wall crumbles, and the void grows. We see people at work making the hole, but their presence is shadowed by the entity that is being formed, taking on a character life of its own. The narrator occupies two positions here, one as an inhabitant of the ‘intersection’, viewing the de-construction, and the other as an observer from the street below.

Environment From the street below the narrator pans from the bare steel skeleton of Pompidou, to the two monolithic buildings next to it. This juxtaposition also brings about a similarity in that both the buildings are perceived as ‘blocks’, as occupiers of space, whereas the conical void holds space in the absence of any occupation.

Toward the end of the film the two buildings are ploughed through by an excavator. As the building diminishes, so the void grows, until the entire structure is razed to a ruin.

Inferences The narrator here is intradiegetic but is both an active participant in the story and a passive viewer. It is the latter position that the narrator uses to critique the transformation that

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Fig 3.6.5 : Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect, 1975.

Collage

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is underway in Les Halles through the making of a “non-u-ment”. The concept of a nonmonument put forth by the narrator is about the antithesis of the idea of a monument, which in this case is made through the ‘negative space’ rather than by creating a new structure, this is a deeper criticism of the literal monument under construction next door to the project, the Pompidou.

The narrative (through performance) tries to change the way we look at the city. The deconstruction draws the eye of the passer by, the narratee. The void is not static, as the narratee walks by the periscope-like cavity offers a dynamic glimpse into the building. As Matta Clark chips away at the plaster the enclosed space is liberated, elevated even by its invisible geometry, the narratee is posed the question, is there but one way to liberate space, through a total erasure?

The narrator calls the performance a “Son et lumière”, or sound and light show. Through the act of removing matter, and creating a void, an invisible cone is imagined to have broken through the side of a monolith exposing not only a radical imagination of space but a scathing critique of the norms of ‘renovation’ underway in an old precinct of Paris.

Fig 3.6.6 : Diagram Narrative Structure

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General Inferences The two essential relationships that have emerged from the study are:

Character – Environment Relationship In environment there are two kinds of use: the first type uses infinite spaces or entirely fictionalized worlds that allow minimal context and the second type that uses familiar places in which there are changes of varying degrees. Both types offer a departure from the known to critique or offer new ways of seeing. Metropolis and Monument Valley use entirely fictionalized worlds to speculate, but in Monument Valley, the built environment also takes on a character life. This is similar to the Museum of Lost Volumes and Conical Intersect, where the voids in each case become characters, in the former instance the static void is passive, to create a space for introspection and in the latter case the void is dynamic, active offering new perspectives. These demonstrate the various roles the environment can take on in a narrative.

It is also observed that if one studies the use of the ‘void’ in three of the case studies, the various ways in which it has been used becomes a demonstration of the positions that the architecture can be made to occupy in a narrative structure. In Einstein Tomb the void has taken the form of the universe, providing a stage for the dance of the Tomb to unfurl.

In Museum of Lost Volumes the void has been characterized in the text and subsequently portrayed as static beings that are to be gazed at. In the third case, Matta Clark uses a conical void to intersect with a block of buildings, here the void becomes an event that catalises change and reaction from the characters in the story.

Narrator- Focalizer Relationship In narrative theory, the concept of the focalizer is used to understand the point of view of the narrator in the text. From the case studies It can be observed that the narrator often takes a position outside the diegesis to able to recount events that happen simultaneously or cover a wide time span such as in the case of Einstein Tomb or Museum of Lost Volumes; or to be able to recount events that happen in various places such as in the case of Metropolis.

Both of these facets of focalizing the text allow that the narrator remain un-personified and slightly removed from the story, thereby many interpretations of the story are made possible.

It can be posited that to inhabit the world of the story, there must be gaps in the narration to foster inhabitation by the viewer. As illustrated in the study of Monument Valley, the use of gaps allows the visualization to become inhabitation (Spiller) to an extent that the narratee becomes a second narrator. This shows another way to create the space for inhabitation, by means of an immersive mode of storytelling, the immersive aspect here being created by the ambiguity (gap) of meaning that the mind instinctively fills rather than the abundance of sensory data as the term is commonly used to signify. The third way in which focalization has been used can be found in both the performance projects where the narrator was positioned within the diegesis and therefore personified in the story, thus the focalization of the text is through their memories and emotions. In the case of the clean air pod the ideological perspective is directly communicated to the narratee in the performance whereas in Conical Intersect there is a subtler revelation of the deeply emotional aspect of destruction and its effects, as the narrator elaborates on in the film made of the performance.

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Focalizer and Speculative Design Theory The means of focalizing a text as laid out in Narrative fiction theory has ties to the notion of displacement put forth as a characteristic of speculative design. Both refer to the perceptual facet of how a story is told and the ways in which the designer/ author can structure the narrative by bending aspects normally used to situate oneself (such as time and place) in order to create the space for displacement and inhabitation. Designers also create narratives at many levels of the design process, also in communicating the design to the client or ‘user’ as the case may be. The implications of this understanding is that these narratives can also be designed.

Diegetic and Mimetic Spectrum In narrative fiction theory, the word diegesis refers to the fictional world of the story. In the active sense of the word, diegetic means the degree to which the story is narrated, or told.

This can be deduced from aspects such as the perceptibility of the narrator, the distance held by her with respect to the diegesis (level) and the degree to which speech, or its design equivalent, making, has been used in the telling of the story.

If the concepts of diegesis and mimesis are applied to speculative design projects as two ends of a spectrum, the projects can be located according to the varying degrees of perceptibility of the narrator. At one end there is the purely diegetic approach where the story is entirely told by the narrator, as one moves to the other end of the scale, the presence of the narrator decreases, at the mimetic end of the spectrum the narrator recedes to the background and the story is entirely shown.

By placing the projects on this scale we can discern how active or passive the narrator is, and how much of the sense making is left up to the viewer. The implications of charting narratives from speculative design projects on this scale is as much about what is not on the scale. If one considers the majority of architecture today, it would fall in the purely mimetic (or least diegetic) end of the spectrum, revealing that the storytelling happens at the level of the process of design but in transforming into a built structure the telling of the story is done through the ‘showing’ mode of storytelling, and with very little understanding of the language of design, the story often doesn’t transcend the paper space. The exceptions to this would include most places of worship where the stories of the religion are part of the architecture, carrying a mnemonic imprint of its myths and beliefs.

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Fig 4.1 : Lebbeus Woods, DMZ, 1988.

The Terra Nova project in 1988 invited alternate spatial strategies to deal with the Korean demilitarized zone.

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Conclusions

“There are inherent risks in a pedagogical program built upon an empirical and pragmatic foundation. For this framework to flourish, design speculation will need to focus on the cultural and social implications of re-imagined building types and potential urbanisms rather than on their economic and functional performance. Projects dependent on the authority of scientific data can never have the productive thickness of design inquiries that are driven by deeper cultural analyses and speculation.�

-Tim Love, Paper Architecture.

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Fig 4.4 : Diller Scofidio and Renfro, Blur Building, Swiss Expo 2002, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, 2002.

An ‘architecture of atmosphere’.

Fig. 4.7 : Frederick Kiesler, The Endless Auditorium, 1924.

Above: Double Auditorium; Below: Plan

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Fig. 4.2 : Walter Pichler, TV-Helmet, 1967.

Critique of the social isolation created by excessive TV consumption.

By nature, we are ‘story-telling animals’ (Danaylov) and we live our lives through the stories we tell ourselves, these are the associations that color the way we see things. It is hard to overstate the importance of reflection and renewal of these associations as we move through life. Often, the sense we make of the world, these stories, can cease to have meaning. They become comfortable roads in the world of the mind that are seldom redrawn. By using fiction to subvert these fixed paths, through displacement, a speculation is able to “plant seeds and question norms (King par 2).” The intent of such inquiries is to “unsettle the present” (Raby and Dunne 88) through a displacement from normalcy, to draw out latent associations and to form new ones. One facet of why one must challenge preconceptions is that it is relevant irrespective of the time one lives in. The other is related to the effects of technology and the general atomisation of urban life that has created the conditions for ‘echo bubbles’ where only the information or opinions we seek are fed to us. This facet calls for the rebuilding of a shared imagination.

In the language of design, a speculation relies on the imaginative aspect to create this associations and weave narratives out of them. It is critical that the performative aspect of architecture be balanced with its imaginative nature. This cannot be said for contemporary architectural practice, which is overwhelmingly performative in nature, i.e., oriented to its performance. And if one only looks at the processes that drive architectural design today it may appear as though architecture has become an ‘endless search for new styles’ (Princeton Architectural Press).

The conventional way of doing things falls short of the complex synthesis required in design.

For instance, one of the formative stages in the design process is the visit to the site of the project, here, the prospective world of the project begins to tether itself to reality. Learning more about the place, through observation informs the design, conventionally known as the ‘site analysis’. Although this analysis rarely extends into the future prospects for the site, except for the lethargic foresight of building codes and regulations. This is one critique of convention, that it has no vision. The other is that there is often a lack of critical thought that would naturally undermine the convention itself.

As the making of architecture becomes increasingly automated, it does not follow that the creative process must do so as well. The creative process necessitates a synthesis, a reconciliation of opposing forces, a coming together of ideas previously unconnected, it is a mind space fraught with chaos. In the separation of art and architecture, and the subsequent realignment with the latter to the business realm, there has been a repression of the synthesis to more logical forms. There is nothing inherently wrong with logical methods, such as the concept or the identification of a problem, but when the concept and its diagram are directly manifested in reality or when the problem is exalted to the de facto generator of the designtheir application renders them as reductive representations.

If viewed at using the diegetic-mimetic spectrum, the vast majority of architecture today is entirely mimetic, i.e. the story is entirely “shown”, accompanied by advertisements and renders for the viewer to glean meaning from. There is immense potential here to design the narrative itself. At a pedagogical level as well as in practice, the program has the closest relation to the narrative. At the level of the program, the architect orders the world of the

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Fig 4.6 : Cedric Price, Fun Palace, 1962.

Fig 4.5 : Rebecca Fode, Lower East Side Quarry, 2012.

A paradoxical event takes place: the ground underneath Manhattan, reveals to have a greater exchange value than the real estate built upon it.

Fig 4.3 : Haus-Rucker Co., Inclined Plane, 1976.

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Fig 4.9 : Archizoom, Parallele districts in Berlin, 1969.

design, the diegesis. It is here, in the expanding of the role of the designer, that speculative design becomes relevant as a practice that combines the design language with fictional narratives to seek new understandings and raise questions about preconceived notions. By creating fictional narratives to present radical ideas and challenge assumptions, the role of design is expanded from a reactive medium to a critical one, enabling an “imaginative examination of what we take for granted (PA Press).�

There is still the question of, to what end will this thinking take us. A study of the perception of speculative work, though out of the scope of this thesis, is one way to measure the influence of the stories within speculations. Another emerging field uses speculative scenarios in collaboration with communities to shape the near future of their environment. But by far, it is the incontrovertible value of reflection and ideological explorations that nudge society forward, and this is the motivation that drives speculations. One need only glance at the history of speculative design practice to see the connections between the inquiries. The thread of Piranesi’s stirring visualizations of prisons can be followed to the mind bending drawings of Escher and further to the animated architecture of Monument Valley. Spanning centuries, they are all in pursuit of a deeper manipulation of space and the manner in which the mind inhabits it. It would be remiss not to point out that such inquiries into how space can bend into itself can also be found in the realm of astrophysics and the theories regarding wormholes. These are timeless ideological explorations that have a cross disciplinary value.

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Fig. 4.7 : Daniel Libeskind, Micromegas Series, 1979.

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Breathing—that’s your Bag. Dirs. Chip Lord, et al. Ant Farm. Lower Sproul Plaza, University of California, Berkeley. 1970.

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

We find wildness. Madelon Vriesendorp. 17 November 2010. 20 October 2017. <http://www.we-findwildness.com/2010/11/madelon-vriesendorp/>.

Pluralsight. Monument Valley’s Lead Designer Takes You Inside the Game. 9 March 2015. 6 November 2017. <https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/monument-valleys-lead-designer-takes-inside-game>.

Chen, Darryl and Liam Young. n.d. 25 September 2017. <http://www.tomorrowsthoughtstoday.com>.

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Davies, Kate and Liam Young. Unknown Fields Division. n.d. 26 September 2017. <http://www.unknownfieldsdivision.com>.

Spector, Nancy . Gordon Matta-Clark Conical Intersect. n.d. 16 October 2017. <https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/5211>.

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Joergensen, Adrianne . “Drawing a Volcanarium, or How to Represent a Very Large Figure.” Pearson, Caspar Luke and Laura Allen. Drawing Futures: Speculations in Contemporary Drawing for Art and Architecture. Riverside Architectural Press, 2016. 96-101.

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Kirby, David. “The Future is Now: Diegetic Prototypes and the Role of Popular Films in Generating Real-world Technological Development.” Social Studies of Science 40.1 (2010): 41-70.

Inayatullah, Sohail. “Causal Layered Analysis.” Futures 30.8 (2009): 815-829.

Slaughter, Richard. Futures Beyond Dystopia: Creating Social Foresight. London: Routledge, 2004.

Freud, Sigmund. Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. Trans. J. Strachey. Franz Deuticke, 1960.

Woods, Lebbeus. “Without Walls” with Geoff Manuagh. Without Walls: An Interview with Lebbeus Woods. http://www.bldgblog.com/2007/10/without-walls-an-interview-with-lebbeuswoods/. 3 October 2007.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Biographia Literaria. 1817.

Tsurumaki, Marc, Paul Lewis and David J Lewis. Pamphlet Architecture 21: Situation Normal... New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.

Dunne, Anthony. Hertzian Tales: Electronic Products, Aesthetic Experience, and Critical Design. London: MIT Press, 2005.

Voros, Joseph. “A Primer on Futures Studies, Foresight and the Use of Scenarios.” Foresight Bulletin 6 (2001).

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26 September 2017. <http://situationlab.org/gameplay-variations-for-the-thing-from-the-future/>.

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Young, Liam. Interview: Liam Young on Speculative Architecture and Engineering the Future NextNature.net. https://www.nextnature.net/2015/03/interview-liam-young/, 29 March 2015.

Conical Inter-sect. By Gordon Matta Clark. Dirs. Gordon Matta Clark and Bruno de Witt. Perf. Gordon Matta Clark. Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York, 1975. 16mm film transferred to video (color, silent).

Kallipoliti, Lydia. “The Envirobubble: Clean Air Pods Redux.” 101st ACSA Annual Meeting Proceedings: New Constellations New Ecologies. Ed. Ila Berman and Edward Mitchell. San Francisco: ACSA Press, 2013. 305-310.

Turan, Neyran, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee. “Museum of Lost Volumes.” 2015. Nemestudio. 25 November 2016. <http://nemestudio.com/projects/museum-of-lost-volumes>.

Metropolis. By von Thea Harbou. Dir. Fritz Lang. Prod. Erich Pommer. 1927.

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Illustration Credits Introduction Fig. 0.1 : Ruins of Travelers Shelter, 2015.

Fig. 0.2 : Ruins of Travelers Shelter, 2015.

Fig. 0.3 : David Macaulay, The Ordinary World Beneath our Feet: ‘Underground’, 1976.

http://socks-studio.com/2014/03/07/the-ordinary-world-beneath-our-feet-underground-by-david-macaulay/

Fig. 0.4 : Micha Ringger, Adrian Brunold and Jonatan Egli, A House Without Function, 2016. http://www.120hours.no/content/uploads/2016/03/1stpage1.jpg

Fig. 0.5 : OMA, City of the Captive Globe, 1977.

[Bottom] https://i.pinimg.com/originals/50/65/d3/5065d39cfa37b572314aae02ea35d763.jpg [Top] http://madelonvriesendorp.com/wp-content/gallery/oma-watercolours/Captive-Globe.jpg

Fig. 0.6 : Superstudio, Continuous Monument, 1969.

Courtesy of Donald Lombardi and Pierogi Gallery <https://d2mdqraew06hxz.cloudfront.net/lombardi_2_body.jpg>

Fig. 0.7 : Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis, Mies-on-a-beam, 1997.

Tsurumaki, Marc, Paul Lewis and David J Lewis. Pamphlet Architecture 21: Situation Normal... New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.

Fig 0.8 : Ron Herron, Walking City, 1964.

[Top to bottom] https://relationalthought.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/ron-herron-cities-moving-master-vehicle-habitation-1964.jpg; https://www.domusweb.it/content/domusweb20/en/architecture/ archive/2011/03/22/radical-visions/_jcr_content/main_content/article_image1.img.rmedium.jpg; http://www. bmiaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/zvg003_beschnitten.jpg

Fig 0.9 : Mario Botta, Model of Francesco Borromini’s San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, 1999. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d7/d1/84/d7d1842960ac409a6a2aff7172e6de34--mario-botta-lugano.jpg Fig 0.9 : Superstudio, Supersurface, 1972.

https://architectureplayer.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/video/social_thumbnail/310/Supersurface_cover02.jpg

Chapter 1 Fig. 1.1 : Etienne-Louis Boullée, Cenotaph for Newton, 1780-93.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d1/37/e3/d137e37b294c1f8d121d89c401c1c490.jpg [Edited]

Fig. 1.2 : Thomas Moore, Utopia, 1518.

https://www.justcolor.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/nggallery/engraving/coloring-cover-thomas-more-utopia.jpg

Fig. 1.3 : Claude-Nicolas Ledoux, Claude Nicolas Ledoux, 1789.

http://socks-studio.com/2016/11/09/the-ideal-city-of-chaux-by-claude-nicolas-ledoux-1773-1806/

Fig. 1.4 : Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Roman Capriccio, 1735.

http://artunframed.com/Gallery/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Roman-Capriccio-Giovanni-Paolo-Pannini.jpg

Fig. 1.5 : Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Imaginary Prisons, 1745-50.

[Top] http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/Dutch/Renaissance/Facsimiles/PiranesiCarceri1750/ [Bottom] 1761 : http://www.italianways.com/piranesis-imaginary-prisons/

Fig. 1.6 : Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, proposal for a masonry and iron building, 1879. https://archhistdaily.wordpress.com/tag/viollet-le-duc/

Fig 1.7 : Rem Koolhaas, The voluntary prisoners of architecture, 1972.

http://socks-studio.com/2011/03/19/exodus-or-the-voluntary-prisoners-of-architecture/

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Fig. 1.8 : Francois Dallegret, Anatomy of a Dwelling, 1965.

https://beyondbrutalism.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/anatomy-of-a-dwelling/

Fig. 1.9 : Cedric Price, Potteries Thinkbelt, 1966.

Spiller, Neil. Visionary Architecture: Blueprints of the Modern Imagination. London: Thames and Hudson, 2006. [ p. 49 ]

Fig. 1.10 : Coop Himmelbau, Restless sphere , Basel 1971.

http://www.coop-himmelblau.at/architecture/projects/restless-sphere/

Fig. 1.11 : Archizoom, No Stop City, 1970.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a2/ae/c1/a2aec14ef905f45be8fafd8171071ca8.jpg

Fig. 1.12 : Bernard Tschumi, Parc de la Villette, 1982-83.

Spiller, Neil. Visionary Architecture: Blueprints of the Modern Imagination. London: Thames and Hudson, 2006. [ p. 159 ]

Fig. 1.13 : Spiller Farmer Architects, Vitriolic Column, 1986.

Pearson, Caspar Luke and Laura Allen. Drawing Futures: Speculations in Contemporary Drawing for Art and Architecture. Riverside Architectural Press, 2016. [ p. 143 ]

Chapter 2 Fig. 2.1 : Benjamin Ferns, Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 2015.

Pearson, Caspar Luke and Laura Allen. Drawing Futures: Speculations in Contemporary Drawing for Art and Architecture. Riverside Architectural Press, 2016. [ p. 123 ]

Fig. 2.2 : Lebbeus Woods, Lower Manhattan, 1999.

http://www.bldgblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/1454491228_030630136e_o.jpg

Fig. 2.4 : Place to sit.

(Left) Author (Right) https://thurle.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/pol-gossip.jpg

Fig. 2.5 : Fig. 2.6 : Speculative History : Parsa Khalili, Campus Martius East, 2013-15.

Pearson, Caspar Luke and Laura Allen. Drawing Futures: Speculations in Contemporary Drawing for Art and Architecture. Riverside Architectural Press, 2016. [ p. 125 ]

Fig. 2.7 : Alternative Present : Superstudio, Continuous Monement, 1969. http://georgemaciunas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Picture-8.png

Fig. 2.8 : Intervention in a Familiar Environment : Suraksha Bhatla, Sharan Sundar, Shanty-Scaper, 2015. http://www.evolo.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/0131-1.jpg

Fig. 2.9 : Creation of Fictional World, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Worldingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; : Peter Cook, Plug-in City, 1962-64.

Sadler, Simon. Archigram: Architecture Without Architecture. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005. [ p. 15 ]

Fig 2.12 : Diagram : Classes of the Future

Chapter 3 Methodology Fig. 3.0.1 : Mark Lombardi, Narrative Structures series, 1994.

Courtesy of Donald Lombardi and Pierogi Gallery <https://d2mdqraew06hxz.cloudfront.net/lombardi_2_body.jpg>

Fig. 3.0.2 : Superstudio, Continuous Monument, 1969.

http://georgemaciunas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Picture-8.png

Fig 3.0.4 : Rachel Whiteread, House, 1993. http://www.artandarchitecture.org.uk/images/full/4ed0b09700d-

0c75114513b031edcdfcbb61b5c4d.html

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Fig 3.0.6 : Marc-Antoine Mathieu, Mémoire morte, 2000. https://thefunambulistdotnet.files.wordpress. com/2013/12/20_labyrinths_and_metaphysical_constructions_01.jpg

Fig 3.0.7 : Diagram: Classes of the Future Fig 3.0.8 : Diagram: Types of Focalization Fig 3.0.9 : Diagram: Positions of Narrator / Narratee Fig. 3.0.10 : Perry Kulper, California History Museum Competition , 2000. [ Fast twitch] https://dprbcn.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/perry-kulper-revisited/

Fig. 3.0.11 : Perry Kulper, California History Museum Competition , 2000. [ Thematic drawing] https://dprbcn.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/perry-kulper-revisited/

Fig. 3.0.12 : Madelon Vriesendorp, Flagrant Délit, animation with Teri Wehn-Damisch for French TV, 1979.

Pearson, Caspar Luke and Laura Allen. Drawing Futures: Speculations in Contemporary Drawing for Art and Architecture. Riverside Architectural Press, 2016. [ p. 13 ]

Fig. 3.0.13 : Madelon Vriesendorp, Flagrant Délit, 1975.

We find wildness. Madelon Vriesendorp. 17 November 2010. 20 October 2017. <http://www.we-find-wildness.com/2010/11/madelon-vriesendorp/>.

Case Studies Fig. 3.1.1 : Lebbeus Woods, Einstein Tomb, 1980.

Woods, Lebbeus . Pamphlet Architecture 6: Einstein Tomb. San Francisco: William Stout Publishers, 1980.

Fig 3.1.2 : Tibetan Mandala.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Mandala_of_Vajradhatu.JPG/1200px-Mandala_of_Vajradhatu.JPG

Fig 3.1.3 : Representation of the Mandala.

Woods, Lebbeus . Pamphlet Architecture 6: Einstein Tomb. San Francisco: William Stout Publishers, 1980.

Fig. 3.1.4 : Tomb guided by a beam of light.

Woods, Lebbeus . Pamphlet Architecture 6: Einstein Tomb. San Francisco: William Stout Publishers, 1980.

Fig. 3.1.5 : Environment

Woods, Lebbeus . Pamphlet Architecture 6: Einstein Tomb. San Francisco: William Stout Publishers, 1980.

Fig 3.1.6 : Diagram: Narrative Structure Fig. 3.2.1 : Neyran Turan, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee; Museum of Lost Volumes, 2015.

Turan, Neyran, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee. “Museum of Lost Volumes.” 2015. Nemestudio. 25 November 2016. <http://nemestudio.com/projects/museum-of-lost-volumes>.

Fig. 3.2.2 : Focalization.

Turan, Neyran, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee. “Museum of Lost Volumes.” 2015. Nemestudio. 25 November 2016. <http://nemestudio.com/projects/museum-of-lost-volumes>.

Fig. 3.2.3 & Fig. 3.2.4 : Environment.

Turan, Neyran, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee. “Museum of Lost Volumes.” 2015. Nemestudio. 25 November 2016. <http://nemestudio.com/projects/museum-of-lost-volumes>.

Fig 3.2.5 : Museum of Lost Volumes.

Turan, Neyran, Melis Ugurlu and Anastasia Yee. “Museum of Lost Volumes.” 2015. Nemestudio. 25 November 2016. <http://nemestudio.com/projects/museum-of-lost-volumes>.

Fig 3.2.6 : Diagram: Narrative Structure Fig. 3.3.1 : Fritz Lang, Metropolis, 1927.

http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/2012/07/metropolis/

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Fig 3.3.2 : The Capitalist City.

Metropolis. By von Thea Harbou. Dir. Fritz Lang. Prod. Erich Pommer. 1927. [ screenshot]

Fig 3.3.3 : The Machine.

Metropolis. By von Thea Harbou. Dir. Fritz Lang. Prod. Erich Pommer. 1927. [ screenshot]

Fig 3.3.4 : The Workers’ City.

Metropolis. By von Thea Harbou. Dir. Fritz Lang. Prod. Erich Pommer. 1927. [ screenshot]

Fig 3.3.5 : The New Tower of Babel.

http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/2012/07/metropolis/

Fig 3.3.6 : Eternal Sunshine- In the Stadium of the “Sons of the Rich.” http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/2012/07/metropolis/

Fig 3.3.7 : Eternal Darkness- In the Subterranean Machine Town of the Laborers. http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/2012/07/metropolis/

Fig 3.3.8 : Meta-Narrative: The construction of the Tower of Babel. http://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog/2012/07/metropolis/

Fig 3.3.9 : The workers mobilize after the destruction of the Workers’ City.

Metropolis. By von Thea Harbou. Dir. Fritz Lang. Prod. Erich Pommer. 1927. [ screenshot]

Fig 3.3.10 : Diagram: Narrative Structure Fig. 3.4.1 : Ustwo Games, Monument Valley, 2014.

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig 3.4.2 : Series : Introduction to Monument Valley.

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig 3.4.3 : Series : The rotation of the architecture.

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig. 3.4.4 : Series : Event

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig. 3.4.5 : Series : Meta-narrative

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig 3.4.6 : Series : Two behaviors of the monument.

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig 3.4.7 : Series : Use of the Gap Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig 3.4.8 : Series : Chapter VIII: The Box

Ustwo Games Ltd. “Monument Valley.” Ustwo Games, 3 April 2014. Game App: Apple App store.

Fig 3.4.9 : Diagram : Narrative Structure Fig. 3.5.1 : Ant Farm, Pillow, 1969.

http://www.hiddenarchitecture.net/2015/04/inflatocookbook.html

Fig 3.5.2 : Clean Air Pod.

http://www.spatialagency.net/2010/08/03/antfarm_8-960x642.jpg

Fig 3.5.3 : Diagram : Narrative Structure Fig 3.6.1 : Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect, 1975. https://dprbcn.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/gordon-matta-clark/#jp-carousel-12936 Fig 3.6.2 : Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect, 1975. https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/5211

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Fig 3.6.3 : Sequence : Process of deconstruction.

Conical Inter-sect. By Gordon Matta Clark. Dirs. Gordon Matta Clark and Bruno de Witt. Perf. Gordon Matta Clark. Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York, 1975. 16mm film transferred to video (color, silent).

Fig 3.6.4 : Sequence : Environment

Conical Inter-sect. By Gordon Matta Clark. Dirs. Gordon Matta Clark and Bruno de Witt. Perf. Gordon Matta Clark. Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York, 1975. 16mm film transferred to video (color, silent).

Fig 3.6.5 : Gordon Matta Clark, Conical Intersect, 1975. http://www.agencespatiale.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/GMC_07.jpg Fig 3.6.6 : Diagram : Narrative Structure

End Note Fig 4.1 : Lebbeus Woods, DMZ, 1988. https://mythstalesandlies.wordpress.com/#jp-carousel-275 Fig. 4.2 : Walter Pichler, TV-Helmet, 1967.

Raby, Fiona and Anthony Dunne. Speculative Everything : Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. The MIT Press, 2013.

Fig 4.3 : Haus-Rucker Co., Inclined Plane, 1976.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/15/e2/0e/15e20ea092a1844ff91bc8b3e7c1102d.jpg

Fig 4.4 : Diller Scofidio and Renfro, Blur Building, Swiss Expo 2002, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, 2002. https://dsrny.com/project/blur-building

Fig 4.5 : Rebecca Fode, Lower East Side Quarry, 2012. http://socks-studio.com/2015/11/05/underground-new-york-speculation-lower-east-side-quarry-by-rebecca-fode/ Fig. 4.6 : Peter Cook, Plug-In City, 1960-74.

https://relationalthought.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/peter-cook-archizoom-maimum-pressure-area-plug-in-city1962-64-section.jpg

Fig. 4.7 : Daniel Libeskind, Micromegas Series, 1979.

https://relationalthought.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/peter-cook-archizoom-maimum-pressure-area-plug-in-city1962-64-section.jpg

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