narration and the lens fig43 joiner of the print studio. this was a base of operations for my weeks spent etching. this type of joiner was an experiment with changing point of views, following lines/objects of interest. the traditional approach of bottom-weighted panorama was suppressed. in photograph: bed press in foreground.
On a necessary level, representation and story telling are both concerned with communicating ideas. Architects engage the idea of representation as a fundamental means of communicating concept and design. Therefore I’m inclined to argue that architecture and storytelling are inseparable things. Unfortunately, this connection seems to have been misconceived, and hence undervalued, in my architectural education. I therefore wish to clarify narration’s position in architecture. narrate –verb 1. to give an account or tell the story of; 2. to relate or recount events, experiences, etc.,102
Narration in architectural representation is how our ideas relate to the viewer. The narration and the means of representation should be co-considered in some sensitive manner. This can be seen in the works of Giovanni Piranesi, Lebbeus Woods and Steven Holl. The success of this methodology is displayed, with great effect, in Piranesi’s Prison etchings. These massive underground prison scenes engage my imagination, as they haunt and intrigue me in equal measures. The harsh marks left by Piranesi, during the intaglio process is a deliberate device, to be interpreted as a symbol of violence and desperation in the world of the drawing. In the Solaris Plates, the viewer initially assumes the 102 ‘Narration’ definition; see p93 77