Narratives in Architecture

The act of storytelling has, historically, been a powerful tool to communicate and disseminate meanings. It expands the boundaries of imagination and diminishes inhibitions acquired over time. Art forms like theatre, cinema and installations have used storytelling effectively to communicate, imagine and as a strategic organising device. Architecture has always claimed to communicate meaning and yet, the idea of narratives remains limited to limited theoretical expressions. This studio aims to engage with the process of narrative, in particular reference to abandoned sites in urban areas. It seeks interpretations building on this theme within the expressions of the built form for a specific design process. As architects engage with the possibilities of advocacy, the narrative offers strategies and mechanisms that foregrounds the experiences of people as part of the design process.The increasingly complex and dynamic social, political and ecological constructs of the world become the settings for the narrative.The studio expects students to seek out an issue of concern and define their project in terms of program, site and brief.