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Comics Everything: Speculating Architecture Through Comics Master of Architecture, 2023 Ruotao Wang Architecture Program | Toronto Metropolitan University

ABSTRACT The ever-changing built environment forces architecture to be speculatively re-imagined at every critical juncture to explore whatif scenarios. Speculative architecture seeks solutions beyond conventional tools to discover alternative, unique dimensions for future praxis - which is imperative to propel architecture in new directions.

The desire to explore alternative fictional scenarios in comics* aligns with the pursuit of speculative thinking in architecture. This thesis argues that future architectural praxis can employ comics as a design mechanism for architectural speculation, focusing on the medium’s formal specificities, narrative structure, and fictional world-building.

As a design mechanism, the comic medium facilitates the generation of speculative architecture and elevates the design process. Oscillating between the possible and impossible, comics afford designers new ways to conceive and create a liberated speculative architecture.

*The term ‘comics’ is used as a superordinate term that comprises many graphic styles such as American comics, Japanese manga, the Franco-Belgian style Bandes dessinées, and graphic novels.

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Figure 1 The Sandman: Fear of Falling, Neil Gaiman,1992

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PREFACE

Many people have asked me why I chose to make comics the subject of my thesis.

“Are you a comic fan?” they inquire. “Where did your interest come from, and why do you think it is relevant to architecture?” These questions prompted me to reflect on my journey and the motivations that led me down this path.

Like many children, my fascination with comics began during my childhood. At the time, comics were often regarded as popular art, transient, and lacking integrity.

Reading comics and manga was commonly seen as an immature behaviour that one should outgrow as they matured.

However, it was through reading and drawing comics that I discovered many of my strengths. Yet, the intrinsic value and contribution of the comic medium itself was persistently overlooked in my personal growth and development. While my ability to create characters and script elaborate stories led me to art classes, I found myself solely learning to draw meticulously accurate still-life objects in those classes. Fun characters with expressive faces and dynamic poses had no place among apples, flower vases, and plaster hands.

Despite these obstacles, my passion for exploring the use of comic techniques persisted even after I started my architectural education. It was obscured by the dominance of conventional plans, sections, and elevations, occasionally surfacing in conceptual diagrams and sketches to convey a clear design intent. Yet, the comic medium’s integration into architecture appeared limited to superficial levels of representation. Anything beyond that seemed elusive, akin to a towering mountain veiled in impenetrable fog.

Determined to overcome this challenge, I resolved to ascend that metaphorical mountain and see where it would lead me on this thesis journey. What had initially started as a study on architectural representation and the intersections with pop culture gradually transformed into a theoretical framework within the realm of architecture, one that would ultimately facilitate the generation of design.

By delving into the potential impact of comics on architecture and reimagining architecture through a comic lens, I found myself revisiting my original fascination with comics. I began dissecting and comprehending why people remained captivated by this medium and what latent power it held, a power that could prove

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Figure 2 A sketch of the author, accompanied by her garlic and potato sidekicks, alongside her quintessential house and human-like rabbit friends.

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valuable not only to me, but also to other comic enthusiasts and the architectural discipline as a whole.

Through extensive research and exploration of narrative structures and speculative thinking within comics, I came to view the Comics Everything model as a powerful design tool. It allows designers to venture into uncharted territories and, most significantly, enables the exploration of intricate and abstract concepts about the future, space, time, and dimensions that conventional practice often overlooks.

With this thesis, I hope to initiate a dialogue on how to leverage comics — the most vibrant, creative, and speculative medium — in design. It is my aspiration to push the boundaries of architectural thinking, inviting fellow designers to embrace comics as a catalyst for imagination and innovation.

This journey has been both challenging and rewarding, and I am grateful for the opportunity to share my findings and insights. I hope to invite my fellow designers, future architects, and avid comic readers to embark on this exploration of comics and architecture, as we collectively uncover the hidden potential lying at the intersection of these two worlds.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Author’s Declaration

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Abstract

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Preface

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Acknowledgments

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Table of Contents

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List of Figures

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Introduction

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Part I: The Overlaps and Interactions

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1.0 Speculative Architecture and Comics Considered

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2.0 Comics and Architecture

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3.0 Comics in Architecture

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3.1 Comics in Design

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3.2 Comics in Critique

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3.3 Comics in Speculation

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4.0 Speculative Design Part II: The Architecture of Comics

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5.0 Comic Parameters

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5.1 Selective Focus

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5.2 Movement in Static Frames

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5.3 Storytelling Through Events

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6.0 Design with Comic Parameters

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7.0 Comic Ingredients

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Part III: Comics Architecture 8.0 Narrative Discourse in Architecture 8.1 Narrative as Design

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8.1.1 Le Corbusier: Promenade Architecturale

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8.1.2 Bernard Tschumi: Form Follows Fiction

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8.2 Narrative as Speculation

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8.2.1 Archigram: Instant City

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8.2.2 Jimenez Lai: Citizens of No Place

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8.2.3 CJ Lim: London Short Stories

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9.0 World-building

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9.1 In Comics

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9.2 In Architecture

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10.0 Design with Narrative

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10.1 Comic Machine

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10.1.1 Initial Approach

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10.1.2 Revised Approach

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10.2 Comic Readers

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Part IV: Comics Everything!!

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11.0 Design Project

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11.1 Design Research Outcome

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11.2 Architectural Comic

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12.0 Concluding Thoughts

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12.1 On Design and Thinking

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12.1.1 Specific Perspective

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12.1.2 Scale Jump

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12.1.3 Time Leap

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12.1.4 Multi-sensory Experience

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12.2 On the Futures

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12.2.1 The Life of Architecture

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12.2.2 Comic Readers: Introversion and Extroversion

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12.2.3 Comics Everything, Everywhere, and All the Time

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Appendix A

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Appendix B

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Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION

To discover inspiration for speculating through comics and design, it is essential to transcend established boundaries and reevaluate the realm of fiction and narrative categories within comics. This research aims to investigate the potential impact of comics on architecture and to reimagine architecture through the lens of comics. Comics, as a graphic medium, are typically described as a fusion of text and imagery. These two narrative modes possess the ability to spatially juxtapose and overlay past, present, and future moments on a single page. The manner in which time and space are articulated in the narrative structure of comics brings the experience of reading comics closer to a spatial encounter with architecture, opening up discussion and exploration for a new model in architecture.

The thesis consists of four distinct parts, as outlined in the table of contents.

Part I, titled “The Overlaps and Interactions Between Comics and Architecture,” aims to establish a connection between these two established disciplines. It identifies areas of overlap and examines the various roles that comics play within the architectural field. Comics, as an art form, fulfill multiple functions in addressing diverse aspects of architecture, including architectural critique, architectural design, and architectural speculation. Extensive case studies support these topics, establishing a framework for further research.

Part II, titled “The Architecture of Comics,” delves into a comprehensive examination of the comic medium. Taking an approach that interprets architecture as a system of organization, this section proceeds to conduct a thorough analysis of the components and narrative modalities inherent to comics. By doing so, it aims to position comics as a form of architectural representation. Each section within this part concludes with a design experiment that both engages with the specific characteristics of comics and questions their architectural qualities.

Part III, titled “Comic Architecture,” reverses the focus from the previous section to delve deeply into the architectural discipline and its theoretical constructs. This section predominantly revolves around narrative theory and argues that comic architecture possesses the capacity to construct spatial-temporal narratives and project alternative, and potentially infinite, worlds. The case studies and literature reviews presented serve as references, informing the final design project of this thesis.

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Part IV, titled “Comics Everything!” draws upon the findings of the previous sections and the design research conducted, while also exploring a novel perspective on architecture through a design project. Taking inspiration from the design and critical theory book titled “Speculative Everything,” this section proposes a paradigm shift in architecture toward embracing a “comics everything” approach.

By researching and exploring the narrative structures and engaging in speculative thinking within comics, this project aims to establish a solid architectural foundation for this underappreciated medium. It seeks to acknowledge speculative architecture as a central discourse within the architectural discipline, recognizing that architecture in comics is not merely a backdrop but a captivating protagonist that operates through the articulation of time and space, communication of events, and speculation of fictional narratives.

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PART I

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The Overlaps

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Interactions

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Figure 3 Bleach Vol 3, Kubo Tite, 2004

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PART 1

SPECULA

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1.0 Speculative Architecture and Comics Considered

What is speculative architecture? Over the years, many theorists and practitioners have expressed views on the definition of speculative architecture and what it comprises. For instance, Australian-born architect Liam Young describes himself as a speculative architect who “operates in the space between design, fiction and futures.”1 Ivica Mitrović, the author of Introduction to Speculative Design Practice emphasizes the significance of the speculative design approach, which takes critical practice toward “imagination and visions of possible scenarios.” 2 These statements claim speculative architecture as a study that engages with the future. However, the mere connection to futurology is weak in defining and formalizing speculative architecture as a unique genre. One may argue that all architecture is speculative and future-oriented, as most architects have been engaged in speculative activities throughout their careers. In this context, it may seem that this topic presents limitations and lacks significance to be discussed further. In fact, speculative architecture operates beyond the superficial level of speculation; it is far more profound and seeks to explore fictional futures in the space between reality and the impossible. It critically drives the architectural discipline to question the response to new technological advancements and formal aspirations.

Figure 4 Planet City, Liam Young

ATIVE A speculative work that envisions a fictional scenario, responding to the issues of climate change and urban sprawl.

OVERLAPS AND INTERACTIONS

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Figure 14 Lettre a Madame Meyer, Le Corbusier, 1925

PART 1

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2.0 Comics and Architecture

The overlaps and interactions between comics and architecture are not recent.

They have repeatedly appeared in twentieth-century publications. Architectural comics can be traced back to Le Corbusier’s fascination with graphic narrative and sequential drawings. In his storyboard drawing Lettre à Madame Meyer (1925), the legendary Swiss Architect used a series of sequential drawings with footnotes to communicate his design intents for an unbuilt project Ville Meyer.1 This unusual architectural drawing style at the time can be explained by an unsurprising connection to Le Corbusier’s well-documented fascination for Rodolphe Töpffer – the father of modern Swiss comics. In this context, Architect and researcher Luis Miguel Lus Arana argues that Töpffer was the primary influencer in shaping Le Corbusier’s obsessions in architecture, such as travel, drawing, and cinematic narrative. 2 Architects’ interest in comics made an unsurprising comeback in the 1960s, marked

by Archigram’s bold use of comic graphics in their eponymous magazine. From 1961 to 1974, ten ‘Archigram’ magazine issues were published in London. During the sixties, the Archigram magazines explored the implications of new technologies that emerged after World War II concerning the architectural discipline. Among the ten issues, Amazing Archigram 4: Zoom issue launched Archigram into international

Figure 15 Amazing Archigram 4: Zoom!

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notoriety. This issue demonstrated a close interaction of architecture and comics through the theme of science fiction and space comics. Similarly, Superstudio used a multi-panel storyboard to illustrate their famous speculative work Continous Monument. These examples demonstrate the keen interest of these radical design groups in expressing speculative ideas with strong graphic narratives.

Since the 1960s, the comics-strip medium has gradually gained more recognition from the public. The influence of the convulsive cultural scene appropriated comic art into fine arts and elevated it into academia. The increasing popularity of comics is marked by the opening of comic-strip museums in the western world, such as the National Cartoon Museum in the U.S (opened in 1974), the Belgian Comic Strip Centre in Belgium (opened in 1989), and the La Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l’image in France (opened in 1991). Aside from growing public interest, the comic-strip medium was gaining more recognition in the academic sector, with the founding of research organizations and the theorizing of comics that propped comics into academia. Starting in the 1960s, around the same time when radical design group Archigram explored comics as a means of communication, scholars have attempted to theorize comics as an object for academic study.

In his 1964 book Apocalittici e Integrati, Umberto Eco discovered the comic-strip as an object for academic discourse.3 Roland Barthes, in his semiotic essay Rhetoric of

Figure 16 Storyboard for audio-slideshow “The Continuous Monument”, Superstudio, 1969-1971

PART 1

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Figure 17 Brüsel , fifth volume of Les Cités Obscures, François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters, 1992

the Image, argues that comic-strip dialogue represents a function of the linguistic message found in almost all images.4 More recently, Thierry Groensteen’s book The System of Comics states that comics can be seen as multimodal semiotic systems involving visual and linguistic modalities.5 These written works demonstrate the first valid attempts of establishing a comics semiotics on a large scale, suggesting comics as an art form that steadily made its way into high culture.

Moreover, it is also worth noting that the overlap between comics and architecture happens both ways. Since the sixties, there has been a migration of comic professionals with architectural backgrounds. François Schuiten and his famous franco-belgian-styled comic series Les Cités Obscures is a well-known figure of this interdisciplinary overlap. Schuiten, who studied architecture at university, produced this comic series based on his fascination with Art Nouveau buildings in Brussels.

It has become a crucial trope in his comics production. Comic scholar FrancescoAlessio Ursini’s examines the architectural tropes used in Schuiten and Peeter’s work. Ursini states, “from a rhetorical perspective, the use of art nouveau and other co-existing styles play a key role in the process of world-building, as it unravels a precise visual identity for each city, but also for the world they inhabit.” 6

OVERLAPS AND INTERACTIONS

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Figure 19 Les cinq points d’une architecture nouvelle, Le Corbusier.

Figure 20 Panels of Une Ville Contemporaine, Le Corbusier, 1922

PART 1

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3.0 Comics in Architecture

Architecture is a multidimensional field that requires effective communication and representation of its visions and messages. The unique combination of visual storytelling and narrative structure in comics has the potential to convey complex architectural ideas in a clear and engaging manner. Comics can be used to represent architectural designs, facilitate critiques, and investigate speculations. This chapter explores the existing relationship between the comic medium and architecture, providing a more profound understanding of the potential of comics to serve as a powerful multi-faceted tool in architecture.

3.1 Comics in Design Comics as a representational tool have the ability to portray and communicate architectural designs. Le Corbusier, one of the earliest architects who bridged the two disciplines, used graphic sequences to express his ideas throughout his career. His most notable architectural manifesto, Cinq points d’une architecture novelle (Five Points of New Architecture), was presented with small illustrations and captions explaining them. 1 A more obvious example was a presentation of Une Ville Contemporaine. Le Corbusier represented this speculative design of a utopian community in four scenes in rectilinear panels with captions at the bottom. 2 The comic strip played a significant role in Willem Jan Neutelings’ later works in the 1980s. His winning project in collaboration with Roodbeen on the design competition of the European Patent Office (1989) conveyed the design in a comicstrip form. Neutelings employed the ‘Ligne claire (clear line)’ style (a term coined and expressed by Joost Swarte to refer to minimalistic style such as The Adventures of Tintin.) as a trope, which allowed him to convey the design ideas quickly and efficiently. 3 With the development of the communication era, advancements in technology and digital communication have made photographic images immediately accessible and available, which may have propelled the return of photo collage as a representational tool. Since then, comics-style narratives have significantly contributed to mainstream practices’ communication and marketing. One famous example is BIG’s Yes is More: An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution. The publication functions as a narrated brochure of the office’s work resembling a conference where the speaker Bjarke Ingels, the slides, and the speech were two-dimensionalized and composed in a

OVERLAPS AND INTERACTIONS

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Figure 21 Comics for the European Patent Office competition, Willem Jan Neutelings, 1989

pseudo-comic book fashion.4 This style works well with the philosophy of the office and the public persona of Bjarke, who is always eager to explain and sell his designs.

Using comics here helps portray the Starchitect Bjarke Ingels, as Koldo Lus Arana suggests, “an architect whose enfant terrible image clearly benefits from the (still) transgressive aura of comic books.” 5 The value of the comic medium as a representation tool in architecture is demonstrated in its ability to explain complex ideas with simple expressions, making conveyance more convenient for the creator and accessible to the public.

In all examples, the comic medium is particularly effective when representing an architectural design intent.

Figure 22 Pages from BIG. Yes is More. An Archicomic on Architectural Evolution, 2009

PART 1

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3.2 Comics in Critique Adding to their representational capacities, comics also present the ability to communicate and facilitate a critical discourse in architecture. Comics, as an art form, often deploy expressions like exaggeration, metaphor, symbol, analogy, and irony to evoke a sense of humor and acceptance in the audience. Historian Thomas Milton Kemnitz examines the importance of cartoons (another imprecise term applied to many graphic forms, including comics) to historians as they reflect social attitudes of their times, in which the cartoon “…is an excellent method for disseminating highly emotional attitudes. It has been employed frequently and effectively as an aid in building up resistance to the policies of politicians and as a weapon of propaganda, generally in ridicule.”6 This argument suggests that comics or graphic narratives derived from satirical art is an effective medium for dealing with contemporary forces, such as political and social forces.

Figure 23 A Harlot’s Progress, William Hogarth, 1732

The emergence of political comics took place in ancient Egypt. An anonymous artist mocked King Tutankhamen’s father-in-law, marking one of the many satirical attacks on ancient Egyptian leaders.7 British painter, pictorial satirist, and editorial cartoonist William Hogarth produced one of the earliest political sequential paintings addressing modern morals in the 18th century. Hogarth’s work, A Harlot’s Progress, consists of six captioned engravings that portray the fatal nature of human vanity and blindness in a didactic manner.8 This work can be seen as a forerunner of political comics.

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FUTURE PART 1

Figure 27 PPPP, Future Cone, Dunne&Raby, 2013

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4.0 Speculative Design

In conclusion, the use of comics in architecture is an intriguing and powerful way to convey multiple layers of complexity. While comics can be used to represent architectural designs and facilitate critiques, the most interesting aspect of comics in architecture is their ability to explore speculation.

Speculative thinking is imperative to opening up more debates and exploring alternative scenarios, and comics are uniquely suited to help architects engage with the possibly impossible realm of potential futures. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby’s theoretical text Speculative Everything contends that if we speculate more, about everything, the reality will become more malleable, thus increasing the probability of more desirable futures.1 Dunne and Raby also faced the struggle to position speculative design. They decided to engage with various what-if questions and curated a series of exhibitions with design proposals that reacted to the questions.

To better articulate their position, Dunne and Raby adapted a diagram presented by futurologist Stuart Candy, who used it to illustrate different potential futures.

The diagram illustrates potential futures as cones representing different levels of likelihood, ranging from probable to plausible to possible.2 Dunne and Raby

Figure 28 ‘What if…’, Dunne & Raby, 2010 2011

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emphasized the zone intersecting the probable and plausible - the preferable.

According to them, this is the zone speculative designers are interested in as the site to conjecture. However, what Dunne and Raby seemed to downplay was the zone beyond the possible, the realm of the impossible. Although the impossible realm appears to be an outlier that is way too removed from reality, the expansion into the impossible enables designers who wish to engage in speculative design to adopt a new tool for design - where comics enter and shine.

Expanding the exploration of potential futures into the impossible fosters the discovery of the ability of comics. Speculative architecture facilitated by comics operates mainly in the margins of the possible, going into the impossible zone. In some instances, the exploration of the impossible is meant to feed into the plausible and the probable, as shown in the examples with Archigram and the Centre Pompidou.

Such is the power of the medium. The comic medium is undoubtedly a powerful representational medium and presents many advantages in architecture. Unlike other conventional mediums, comics possess many unique features and qualities, such as narrative structure and world-building capacity. Beyond the role of a great representational tool, comics can afford architects with design capacities. In this way, comics have the potential to become an important design mechanism in architecture, allowing architects to design beyond technological and formal gestures and embrace the full range of possibilities available to them.

Notes 4.0

1. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming (Cambridge, Massachusetts ; London: The MIT Press, 2013), 6.

2. Joseph Voros, “A Primer on Futures Studies, Foresight and the Use of Scenarios,” The Voroscope (blog), 2001, https://thevoroscope.com/publications/foresight-primer/.

PART 1

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future present

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preferrable probable

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COMICS COMICS Figure 29 Expanded Diagram of the Future Cone

OVERLAPS AND INTERACTIONS

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PART II

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The Architecture

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Comics

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Figure 30 The Sandman Vol 2, Part 7: Sound and Fury, Neil Gaiman

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PART 2

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Arguably, one of the most fundamental connections between comics and architecture emerges from the debate on terminology. The question “What is architecture?” is one of the most common and complex questions architects face. Similarly, “what exactly are comics?” is not a simple inquiry; it incites intellectual interrogation rather than seeking a complete answer.

From a terminology standpoint, the term ‘comics’ can be employed in various ways. It can be used as the plural of the noun comic, or Comics as a singular noun.

Alternatively, it is a modifier applied in “Comics Studies.”1 The term itself can be seen as a supreme offender regarding the precision of vocabulary.

Given the imprecision of definitions for both subjects, the intervention of comics in architecture naturally invites considerations and speculation. In this thesis, the term ‘comics’ is interpreted as a way of seeing the world, being in the world, and a new way of conceiving architecture.

The audience for this new role of comics in architecture is designers who engage in speculative architecture. Considering comics as a potential design tool may foster the emergence of speculative architecture and facilitate the design process.

In that case, the designer would benefit from undertaking a design exercise using comics because it provides a valuable vehicle to operate between the possible and the impossible. In other words, comics as a design mechanism give agency to speculative design in architecture.

Part 2 of this thesis aims to address the question: how does the comic medium serve as a design mechanism, and what are the advantages, especially for speculative architecture? Responding to these questions requires a deep dive into the comic medium and rethinking existing knowledge. The goal is to draw new principles and taxonomies from the analysis of pre-established comic structures, allowing the development of specific comic parameters for architecture.

1. Barbara Postema, Narrative Structure in Comics: Making Sense of Fragments (Rochester: RIT Press, 2013), chap. Picture Stories: Comics Considered, https://muse.jhu.edu/book/31439.

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5.0 Comic Parameters

Over the years, a substantial body of theory and research has focused on the study of comics. Some notable contributions to this field include Pascal Lefevre’s Narration in Comics, Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, and Thierry Groensteen’s The System of Comics. These works have explored the formal structure of comics, attempted to give them more depth, and sparked numerous academic responses. In the present study, these theoretical texts serve as the primary authoritative references, providing a foundation for the synthesis and discovery of new parameters. Three aspects of comics that are considered indispensable components are drawing, page layout, and narrative.

Comics study is the subject of a rigorous investigation and comes with inherent constraints that can facilitate the generation of design and elevate the design process for speculative architecture. In this chapter, three comic parameters have been discovered through the study of comic examples, theoretical works established by comic professionals, and personal experience reading comics. Each parameter has been broken down into a taxonomy of three comic components, which communicate its unique characteristics.

drawing page layout narrative

Figure 31 3 indispensable comic components

PART 2

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5.1 Selective Focus Drawing

Figure 32 ‘Essais d’autographie’, Rodolphe Töpffer, 1842 Swiss comic artist Töpffer, known as the father of comics used a simplified, abstract drawing style to capture the essence of characters.

Unlike conventional architectural representations or photorealistic renders, comic drawings are highly stylized. This stylization is characterized by selective focus, exemplified by the simplified and exaggerated caricature. Across different cultures, stylized drawings in comics utilize simple geometries that exclude extraneous details to capture only the essence of an object, person, or even architecture. Crucially, the caricature expressions in comics uphold their capacity to convey complex concepts. As noted by comic theorist Scott McCloud, the caricature in comics is “a form of amplification through simplification.”1 By simplifying an image towards a particular purpose, the cartooning process removes unnecessary details and reduces an image to its fundamental meaning. However, this process of reduction does not detract from the selective focus in comics graphics, which allows designers to emphasize and amplify that meaning, and subsequently introduce complexity into their designs.

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Figure 33 Tintin Illustration, Hergé, 1946 Hergé’s Tintin series is known for the use of “clear line“ style

SELE Figure 34

Action Comics, 1938

Even American comics which are more on the realistic end are abstract and exaggerated to focus and emphasize.

PART 2

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Figure 35 Pages from Bakuman, Chapter 3.

The page selectively shows certain zoom-in of details and fragments of the room, then reveals the overall view in the last panel.

ECTIVE Page Layout

The comic page is composed of fragmented panels that only reveal a selected portion of the scene, with the rest of the image cropped out by the panel border. According to Groensteen, the page layout allows the author or artist to specify spatial, and strategic options and provides the comic pages with definitive configurations.2 Therefore, the spatial organization of a comic page can be viewed as a strategy implemented from the beginning of its creation. As an embodiment of comics’ design capacity, the selective focus parameter in page layout can be regarded as part of that strategy, enabling designers to easily crop out and eliminate unaddressed design issues and concentrate on a specific purpose or problem at the designer’s discretion.

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6.0 Design with Comic Parameters

It is important to recognize that if the parameters outlined above were adopted literally, they would operate as constraints. However, if they are used as points of inspiration to facilitate the generation of design, they become valuable parameters for speculative architecture. The goal of this design investigation is to engage design through the comic parameters (instead of building design parameters) to validate the values of these parameters in the generation of architectural design.

In the first phase of the thesis project, the initial sketch introduces a rough story and illustrates simple caricatures of how the design evolves as the narrative progresses.

Although the sketch captures key moments of design in a storyboard-like format, the design of the walking object is driven by the content of the drawings while lacking the unique dimensions of the comic medium, such as frames. The critique of the initial approach informs us of the key considerations for the next investigation on utilizing comic parameters in design: 1.

2.

Comics as a design tool require multiple frames to create a narrative.

The design must be driven by comic parameters, such as layout and narrative, in addition to the content.

Such considerations can be found in comic examples that articulate the frames and contents carefully and strategically. Frank O. King’s Gasoline Alley pages documented the fictional construction of a house. Through the four pages, the construction process was divided into multiple panels, which altogether made up the axonometric view of the house. This example is an interesting way of employing frames and conveying content in comics, as each frame becomes an individual space, both a fragment of the overall story and the entire space.

RESEA Figure 48

Initial sketch

Introducing a story through caricatures.

PART 2

ARCH

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THE ARCHITECTURE OF COMICS

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Figure 49 Gasoline Alley, Frank O. King

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THE ARCHITECTURE OF COMICS

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PART III

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Comics

Architecture

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Figure 54 Sandman Vol 2 #19: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Neil Gaiman, 1990

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8.0 Narrative Discourse in Architecture

In the previous chapters, the importance of narrative in comics was discussed as a crucial aspect of comic production. However, in the context of discovering comics architecture, this chapter looks beyond the comic world and examines narrative discourse in a broader sense.

Narrative plays a central role in shaping human beliefs, behaviors, and culture, and has been presented in various forms throughout history, including verbal mediums such as myths, fables, tales, short stories, and epics, as well as visual mediums such as paintings, sculptures, stained glass windows, dance choreography, and comics.

It is presented in every age, place, culture, and society, both in good and bad times.

It can be argued that the existence of narrative is intertwined with the origin of humanity, and as Jonathan Gottschall argues, it is what makes us human.

Despite the vast diversity of narratives, narratologists and theorists believe that all narratives have specific structural features. Regardless of the genre or individual narrative, specific organizational structures are employed. French narratologist Roland Barthes stresses the importance of seeking narrative structures that consist of an implicit system of units and rules. Similarly, Seymour Chatman from America takes a structuralist’s perspective and asks what the essential components of a narrative are. This systematic and organizational approach to the study of narrative highlights its close connection to architecture, which is concerned with the organization of ideas and spaces. This relationship is explored further in the following discussion on the narrative discourse in architecture, which adds a necessary dimension to the discovery of comics architecture.

PART 3

NARRATI

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Figure 56 Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier, 1931

8.1 Narrative as Design Many architects have displayed a profound interest with narrative discourse. In some instances, the narrative becomes a central component in their theoretical and practical works. Some describe a building as a narrative invoking an imaginary participant and a journey through the space. However, for some architects, the narrative is central not only to the description of a space but also to the design and the spatial experience. Sophia Psarra states clearly on architecture’s ability to function as a spatial narrative. In her book Architecture and Narrative: The formation of space and cultural meaning. She argues, “The penetration of a building from one side to the other and from the bottom to the top expresses the capacity of architecture to function as spatial narrative. Crossing a boundary that separates the inside from the outside is like entering a fictitious world, like opening a book to read a story.”1 From Le Corbusier’s concept of the Architectural Promenade to Bernard Tschumi’s Forms Follows Fiction; narratives are used as an indispensable, central component to the formation of architectural space and proposition. Therefore, the following architectural works are discussed to provide depth to the value and application of narrative in comics architecture.

8.1.1 Le Corbusier: Promenade Architecturale Le Corbusier’s Architectural Promenade is concerned with the narrative of an individual’s movement through space in accordance with a precise articulation of a visual sequence. This concept was a central element of Le Corbusier’s architectural and urban planning designs, with the term first appearing in his description of the Villa Savoye as a way to enter and explore space following a specific itinerary. Le Corbusier viewed the house as offering “a veritable promenade architecturale, offering aspects constantly varied, unexpected and sometimes astonishing.”2 The aim of the promenade is to create a hierarchy among events and a set of directions for experiencing space, similar to reading a book. The architectural promenade should be viewed as a means to order information, representing the significance of narrative in architecture at its core.

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9.0 World-building

The term world-building has always been a part of art and literature, specifically fiction. World-building became popular in mainstream culture as a concept in the 1960s with figures like J.R.R Tolkien’s Middle Earth and the Star Wars franchise, both of which involve creating stories set within their own unique worldview and universe.

As Tolkien described, the world-building process is a “sub-creation”: “What really happens is that the story-maker proves a successful “sub-creator.” He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is “true:” it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside.”1 9.1 In Comics Worlding-building can be examined through the comic components outlined in the previous chapter. Arguably, in most cases of good fiction, the author had put a lot of time and effort into creating their “Secondary World,” such as Middle Earth from The Lord of The Ring, Westero from A Game of Thrones, and Hogwarts from Harry Potter.

However, with comics, just the simple, stylized drawings can give a

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Figure 62 A panel from James Kochalka’s The Horrible Truth About Comics, 1999

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strong sense of an alternative universe in which the reader could enter and explore. Therefore, comic artists build their own worlds simply by drawing in a specific and abstract style. As Dylan Horrock points out, even the laws of physics are the only side-effects of the artists’ drawing style in comics.2 In this sense, the comic artist can be seen as a kind of god, constructing an entire universe with their drawings.

Although comic artists have the freedom to invent an entire universe, they still need to ensure that everything within the totality of the comic makes sense. Coherence in world-building is crucial to the comic medium and the story it communicates. However, the goals of maintaining continuity often conflict with the creative desire to explore alternative scenarios. The attempts to accommodate both tendencies eventually led to Marvel’s multiverse and DC’s infinite earth series that we see today.

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The comic medium’s ability to create a personal experience is critical to demonstrating its design capacity. Daniel Mackay stresses the importance of fictional environments: “Today, the paperback, computer game, comic book, role-playing game, film, and CD-ROM markets are all inundated by what I call imaginaryentertainment environments: fictional settings that change over time as if they were real places and that are published in a variety of mediums (e.g., novels, films, role-playing games, etcetera), each of them in communication with the others as they contribute toward the growth, history, and status of the setting.”3

Notable fictional environments in comics, such as the Marvel universe, DC universe, and popular Japanese mangas, have enthusiastic fan groups who not only read the comic books but also actively participate in creating these fictional worlds. They participate by writing fan fiction, producing fan art, dressing up at conventions, learning to speak a different language, or just lying down and dreaming that they are also a superhero moving in the shadows of Gotham City.

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9.2 In Architecture The concept of world-building in architecture can be traced back to architectural paintings in the 17th and 18th centuries. Early Renaissance frescoes commonly employed architectural elements to construct a scene, while capriccio style paintings illustrated imagined scenes.

Capriccio is a style that originated in the Renaissance and continued into the Baroque period. In Italian, capriccio means architectural fantasy. These works of imagination create imagined or analog reality by combining and relocating existing buildings or inventing places.4 Giovanni Paolo Panini is one of the notable figures who engaged with this form of art style. His paintings of Rome included images of architecture arranged in a gallery, allowing notable buildings in Rome to be accommodated within one painting, which would be impossible from any physical perspective in the real world.

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Figure 63 Modern Rome, Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1757

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Figure 64 The Drawbridge, from “Carceri d’invenzione” (Imaginary Prisons), Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 1761

Building upon the idea of capriccio paintings, Giovanni Battista Piranesi created a series of engravings titled “Prisons (Carceri)”, whose imaginative paintings inspired many architects. Rather than the idealized views of Rome portrayed in Panini’s works, Piranesi’s engravings created imagined subterranean vaults with industrial machinery.5 Arguably, Piranesi’s creation of entirely imagined architectural spaces moved the conventional capriccio paintings out of reality and provided space for artists and architects to speculate fantastical scenarios.

In the early 1900s, the concept of world-building in architecture shifted to focus on creating utopias that imagine perfect worlds.

Le Corbusier proposed the Plan Voisin as a solution for the center of Paris, which would replace the urban blight with a structured, orthogonal grid of 18 cruciform skyscrapers. His utopian idea consisted of demolishing and reorganizing the city to construct a world with spacious public spaces.

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10.0 Design with Narrative

The study of narrative and world-building provides a deeper understanding of the structures and guidelines needed to discover comics architecture. The following series of design investigations looks beyond the employment of comic parameters in the design and aims to define a comics architecture activated by comic means, therefore triggering the generation of design through a systematic approach within a structured framework powered by narrative devices and coherent world-building.

In Narrative Structure in Comics, Babara Postema points out the unique quality of comics that is valuable for considering a framework for comics architecture. “Visual narratives, and especially comics, due to their non-photographic images, cannot help but provide indices at any moment in the discourse. The visual signs will inevitably be informants, providing the “pure data” of details about the comics set-up (characters, context, and so forth).” 1 Since not all parts of the narrative discourse have the same relation to the plot, it is imperative to categorize these data of details in comics and examine the impact on the plot and how it ultimately generates design.

Roland Barthes, in Image, Music, Text focuses on the classification of narratives. He states that the units of ‘functions’ in a narrative do not share the same importance.

The functions of a plot can be categorized into ‘cardinal’ and ‘catalyst.’ As the name suggests, cardinal refers to the fundamental direction of a story that consists of the real hinge points of the narrative and consists of indispensable substances of the story. A catalyst, just like its chemistry definition, triggers certain reactions to happen but remains unchanged after the reaction. As shown in an extract from Frank Miller’s comic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, the scene has no direct connection to the main plot, which is Bruce Wayne and his return as Batman. However, it provides context and depth to the plot, which are important features to consider when engaging comics in design. The following design research will unpack the application and utilization of these two strands of functions.

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Figure 68 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller, 1986

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Figure 79 Sandman Vol 2 #19: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Neil Gaiman, 1990

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From the utilization of comic ingredients to the implementation of a recursive comic machine and the acknowledgment of the role of comic readers, this design research affirms the incremental value of the comics-enabled workflow. The defined steps help to better delineate comics architecture as an alternative architectural model that operates within the comic medium and embodies the comic way of thinking.

The illustrated scenarios in the previous design research allow us to speculate on possible futures for the walking creature — a future where the city and nature coexist symbiotically, or a dystopian future where we are in conflict with non-humans and rely on protective walking costumes. These are all possible futures that we can imagine through the comic medium.

The key difference between the architecture model that utilizes comics and comics architecture is evident through a series of investigations. With comics architecture, the comic medium is infused throughout the design process, from conception to conveyance, immersing each step in comic means.

The Comics Everything framework has the potential to enable architects to speculate and imagine alternative futures in a systematic and coherent way, leveraging the unique narrative and visual language of comics. By embracing this alternative model, architects can approach design problems with a new perspective, enhancing their ability to think critically, creatively, and empathetically. In that sense, Comics Everything can serve as a strategic tool for speculative designers in architecture.

Figure 80 Comics Everything workflow diagram

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11.0 Design Project

11.1 Design Research Outcome The design research investigations conducted under each section work in harmony and culminate in a final project that synthesizes the findings of this thesis. The final project explores new imaginary territories and serves as a demonstration of how to operate within the alternative architectural model proposed in this thesis.

To decide on a design direction and determine what kind of proposal should be explored, we can look back to the very beginning of our research. The initial study of this thesis concluded with an expanded future cone diagram that helps explain how speculative architecture facilitated by comics operates primarily in the margin of the possible, and ventures into the impossible.

With this in mind, the design project of this thesis explores a visionary proposal that leverages the comics everything model to create a speculative architectural project that pushes the boundaries of what is possible. The proposal is grounded in realworld constraints of pragmatism, but uses the unique qualities of the comic medium to imagine a future world that is both fantastical and realistic.

The relationship between comics and the future cone diagram enables the classification of potential project types into three distinct categories: pragmatic, visionary, and comics. The design project presented in this thesis falls between the categories of comics and visionary proposals, effectively demonstrating the capability of the comics everything model to generate speculative architectural proposals. While remaining within the bounds of practicality, this project harnesses the distinct attributes of the comic medium to extend the limits of what is conceivable in the realm of speculative architecture.

Figure 81 3 poles diagram

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11.2 Architectural Comic The final design project is the development of a comic story called “Legacy”. The story can be seen as a volume of the comic series with the potential to expand into a thought-provoking comic series titled [IN]Conclusive. The stories in “[IN]Conclusive” are not necessarily dystopian or utopian, but rather present a nuanced and complex view of the future, reflecting the uncertainties and ambiguities of our current world. The series aims to challenge readers to think critically about the future and to consider the consequences of our actions in the present.

“Legacy” aims to demonstrate the architectural proposition through a coherent story that ties different worlds together.

Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, the story should allow for alternative scenarios to be explored while adhering to a single idea. In this case, the story centers around a mysterious death of an architect in the near future, witnessed by people closest to him.

The narrative is instrumental in the Comics Everything model, and the development of the story is closely linked to the design of a future living environment. Each witness in the story is a narrator who experiences one aspect of the future environment and also a designer who constructs part of the environment based on their own perspective. This approach allows for a variety of perspectives to be explored while still maintaining coherence and providing a demonstration of the proposed architectural model.

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[IN]Conclusive comic cover

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12.0 Concluding Thoughts

12.1 On Design and Thinking The architectural comic provides a compelling demonstration of how comics can offer valuable contributions to the discourse of architecture. The development of the comic has yielded valuable insights into the design process and the way designers think, these insights are Specific Perspective, Scale Jump, Time Leap, and Multisensory Experience. By utilizing the established Comics Everything workflow, this project reveals unique capabilities for exploring complex ideas about the future.

12.1.1 Specific Perspective

Figure 85 Poster of “Specific Perspective“

In “Legacy”, the portrayal of multiple perspectives is essential in highlighting the significance of individuality and the multifaceted nature of design. Each perspective brings a distinct voice to the design, representing various experiences, interests, and values. For instance, the wife’s perspective may focus on the utilitarian aspects of the design, while the cat may focus on the materials’ organic shape and textures for playing with.

By incorporating diverse perspectives, the comic medium prompts designers to consider the intricate relationship between occupants and their built environment.

Figure 86 Examples from the comic that demonstrate “Specific Perspective“ The wife focuses on primarily the utilitarian aspect of design, while the cat only focuses on interesting forms and materials to play with.

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SCALE JUMP

Figure 87 Poster of “Scale Jump“

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Furthermore, creating a design from a specific perspective in comics can inspire designers to think beyond conventional norms and explore innovative solutions. By exploring various viewpoints, designers can uncover new possibilities and ideas that may have been overlooked in traditional design processes, promoting a more inclusive approach.

Ultimately, the inclusion of multiple perspectives and individuality in architectural comics enhances the design process, leading to more thoughtful and comprehensive designs. This approach enables designers to create spaces that reflect the richness and diversity of the communities they serve, while addressing individuals’ unique needs and desires.

12.1.2 Scale Jump The scale jump in comics enables a seamless transition for the reader from a distant view to a close-up or detailed view. This approach can effectively communicate the overall design concept by providing a sense of context and perspective, while also highlighting specific details and features of the design.

In addition to this, the scale jump technique in architectural comics allows for the exploration of multiple layers of concern, ranging

Figure 88 Examples from the comic that demonstrate “Scale Jump.“

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12.2 On the Futures 12.2.1 The Life of Architecture

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To conclude the discussion on the valuable insights provided by the architectural comic, it is necessary to zoom out and examine the overall narrative. The architectural comic employs non-linear storytelling, which involves jumping in time and space between four characters. The non-linear narrative effectively binds together the relatively disconnected times, spaces, and ideas, facilitating a set of valuable investigations.

Through extensive design research and final demonstration, this thesis has effectively validated that the comic medium can shed light on a dimension of architecture that is often overlooked. Traditional architectural practice does not typically require designers to speculate on how the building will be utilized by stakeholders after its completion. However, as previously discussed, the architectural comic not only traces the various phases of the building’s life, but also evinces a unique sensitivity to architecture from multiple perspectives and time frames — highlighting the speculative potential of the comic medium. Furthermore, the architectural comic features a coherent narrative that effectively ties together seemingly disparate ideas, enabling valuable investigations to occur.

Figure 93 Neil Gaiman, Sandman Vol 7: Brief Lives

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12.2.2 Comic Readers: Introversion and Extroversion

The iterative mechanism of the comic machine enables the expansion of the consideration of target audiences, or the comic readers, when designing with comics. As highlighted in the conclusion of Chapter 10, the role of the comic reader within the Comics Everything workflow encompasses a broader concept, that is, the discipline of architecture. The architectural comic serves as a demonstration that further refines the concept of the comic reader, distinguishing Comics Everything’s introverted and extroverted impact on the architecture discipline.

The Comics Everything tool is an active and dynamic model that enables ‘me’ as the designer to utilize the four key points discussed above as valuable insights, thereby elevating the design process for speculative architecture. By deviating from the usual approach in current practice, the designer can consider these points in a unique manner that facilitates the generation of design. Through this mechanism of self-criticism, ‘me’ as the designer can introspectively review ‘my’ designs and speculate on the next steps by using the four unique points constantly and effectively.

The epilogue of the architectural comic unveils a concealed truth about a misjudged architectural project that adversely affected a portion of the city. The construction of the project was initiated by a sketch made by a renowned architect, revealing a significant commentary on the instrumental role of narrative in architectural practice and how its absence can lead to disastrous outcomes.

This revelation underscores the advantages of utilizing comics in the design process, as they can aid in conveying intricate concepts and narratives and guarantee a comprehensive comprehension of the project’s effects on the city and stakeholders. Moreover, the comic as a whole presents the outcome to ‘others’ for their consideration. As such, the Comics Everything tool also engages with other individuals to allow for critique and speculation on the future of architectural thinking. This extroverted nature of the Comics Everything tool aligns with one of the fundamental tropes of the comic medium — satire.

Figure 96 A map to navigate the Comics Everything tool

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introspectively review MY design through an iterative process

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The comic machine aims to reflect how a narrative can transform a design and convey the coherence of world-building within a story. The recurisve mechanism allows for the generation of multiple scenarios, fully utilizing the potential of the comic medium for speculation on various futures

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CARDINAL

By employing these ingredients as a schematic set-up, designers can create compelling narratives that convey the conceptual, functional, and aesthetic aspects of their architectural proposals.

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COMIC INGREDIENTS The approach of employing comic parameters allows designers to establish the schematic set-up of a speculative design in comics – comic ingredients.

Each parameter communicates unique characteristics of the comic components and can be used as points of inspiration to facilitate the generation of design.

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The analysis of pre-established components allows the development of specific comic parameters for architecture - they are 1. selective focus, 2. movement in static frames, and 3. storytelling through events.

COMICS EVERYTHING!!