Parafiction and The Architectural Imagination by Ashley Glesinger A Design Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Architecture Major: Architecture Under the Supervision of Dr. Rumiko Handa Lincoln, Nebraska May 2021
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CONTENTS INTRO DU C TIO N
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Thesis Statement PA RAFIC TIO N
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in Art & Architecture FICTIO N AS FAC T
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Film Website FACTS
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Setting Gathering Artifacts pa raFIC TIO N
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The Medium The Set Up The Narrative Character Building The Architecture EA RLY S TU DIES
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THES IS
STAT E M E N T I obser ve current architecture practice to be too reality driven. As a response to this issue, I want to find a productive way to incorporate imagination into architectural practice. This thesis demonstrates parafiction is one productive technique of exercising architectural imagination. By parafiction, I mean a type of fiction that begins with a fact and is presented as a fact in order to demonstrate what the world could be. To create paraficitons I will explore the poetic capabilities of film. By doing so, this thesis strives to “make present” one person’s imagination.
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ARC HITEC TU RE a s
PROJECTION “both the future and the past have roles to play. Before it can anticipate anything final, the project must redefine its relationship to what exists, partly tearing itself away from the present , partly remaining there, creating a tension between the two.� The Project of Design Research -David Leatherbarrow
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PARAFIC TIO N in
A RT & ARCHITECTURE
Monument to the Birth of the 20th Century Michael Blume
A Tribute to Safiye Behar Michael Blume
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PARAFIC TIO N in
A RT & ARCHITECTURE
1. Architects speculate on possible future realities through multiple forms of mediation. “The plausibility of any parafiction is achieved by embracing all of the media that inter vene in the world and challenging this media to be other than it is assumed to be.”
2. Parafiction positions the relation between abstraction and realism through aesthetics. “Architecture has treated these as antithetical categories. This opposition is mired in the historical understanding of these two terms through ethics and epistemology, treating aesthetics as secondar y and derived from the other two. This leads to problematic positions in which an architect is cast as either conceptual (abstract) or sensorial (realist), either avant-garde (abstract) or pragmatic (realist).”
3. Parafiction places the responsibility of political inter vention on aesthetic production “Parafiction asks what happens when the aesthetics of the world are disrupted, when doubt itself becomes aesthetic, and through this, what actions become possible, what plausible realties become available.”
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“This treatise proposes that architecture be considered a multi-medium parafictional project. There is no single medium upon which to base the specificity of the discipline. Architecture should exploit its entire available media to propose ways in which the world can be made other. Since these mediations are all tied into conditions of the future environment, the questions of relations between representations and reality are crucial.�
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FINAL PRODUCT documentar y & website
In order to demonstrate film as parafictional project, I’m going to create a short mock documentary that will be presented in following thesis reviews as a factual documentary. Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell and Woody Allen’s Zelig will act as precedents and help guide how I incorporate the facts and fictions into the film.
Stories We Tell (2012)
Zelig (1983)
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A website will be created with multimedia of parafiction.
http://0100101110101101.org/files/vaticano.org/
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PA R A F I C T I O N Parafiction is a type of fiction that begins with a fact and is presented as a fact in order to demonstrate what the world could be.
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FA C T S setting
In order to create a parafiction, I must begin with facts. The facts of this parafiction are the setting including the town and places within the town, the era, events and institutions. The village of Spalding, Nebraska was chosen for the setting of this parafiction.
Vineyard
Street
W Canal Street
W St. James Street N Pine Street
N Ash Street
N Cedar Street
N Elm Street
N Chestnut Street
N Walnut Street
N Linden Street
WPA Avenue
Marguerite Street
St. Joseph Street
W Sullivan Street
Old HWY 101
W Creamery Street
Park Avenue
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ro
ad
Av
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TOWN:
Spalding, Nebraska
DESCRIPTION:
Real village located in Greeley County.
INCORPORATED: Originally named Halifax, the village was officially renamed after Bishop Spalding in 1881 BACK STORY:
Spalding is small agricultural village. Irish and German immigrants settled in the area as part of the Homestead Act of 1862. Catholicism played a large part in the development of the settlement, with the creation of St. Michaels Catholic Church, Spalding Academy School, and Spalding College.
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St. Michael’s Catholic Church
Spalding Academy School
Spalding Dam and Cedar River
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Main Street Spalding
FA C T S
e ra , ev e n t s , & i n s t i t u t i o n s TIME PERIOD:
1926-1965
INFLUENCING EVENTS:
The Dust Bowl
The Great Depression
WWII
The Cold War
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Gawk Hill
ORGANIZATION:
Ground Observer Corps (GOC)
HISTORY:
The GOC was a Civil Defense program created by the US Air Force during WWII. In 1952, the program was extended with the creation of Operation Skywatch. “In twentyseven states, 150,000 civilian volunteers were directed to stand atop some six thousand observation posts, scanning the horizon twenty-four hours a day, year-round, for planes, especially those flying at low altitudes.”1 If the volunteers saw something, they would This program was active in Spalding, Nebraska in the 1950s. Volunteers operated from a hill on the northwest corner of town, coined “Gawk Hill.”
ORGANIZATION:
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
HISTORY:
During the Great Depression, Congress established the CCC to create jobs for unemployed men age 17-23.5. From 1933-1941, the CCC employed approximately 3 million men. These men were assigned to locations to build roads, trails, culverts, and structures. These built works used native materials. For payment, the men received education and training, and a small paycheck.1 CCC company 757, originally stationed in Fort Crook, Nebraska were transfered to Spalding, Nebraksa on January 15, 1936. They set up camp at the public part near the baseball field. During their time in Spalding, they built a Grandstand structure for the baseball field and other infrastructure projects. They were transfered out of Spalding on May 31, 1937.2 19
FA C T S a r t i fa c t s
To bring this story to life, I will use multimedia forms of representation. The following media are artifacts I have gathered from different sources in the town of Spalding. With this content, I can separate them from their original owners and stories to re-contextualize them to fit into and build a more believable narrative.
WRITTEN ACCOUNTS
The “Red Book”
Daniel McCarthy Family as Nebraska Pioneers
INTERVIEWS
Seeing Life in the 1940’s and 50’s through the eyes of a Nebraska Child
NEWSPAPERS
Interview with Leila Bauer , October 2020
Spalding Enterprise, January 5, 1956
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CITY ARCHIVES
POSTCARDS
Spalding City Archives
Spalding City Archives
PERSONAL COLLECTIONS
Personal Scrapbook, Marie Schlaf, Source: Spalding Public Library
Home Videos, Source: “Carrahers” Facebook Page
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Personal Photo Album, Marie Schlaf, Source: Spalding Public Library
p a ra F I C T I O N t h e n a r ra t i v e
The story will be “set up” by the following scenes about how I acquired the content for this documentary.
THE SET UP
01 Opening Scene: Old country farm house My dad and I cleaning out his aunt and uncles home after their passing.
02 Inside the house. Walk around the house, showing each room and the activity of sorting through things. I get to work in an upstairs bedroom.
03 The bedroom closet is full of boxes. I begin sorting through them. I find three boxes labeled “Bridget.”
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04 I take the boxes down to the kitchen table, and begin to sort through them. The first box has an old photo album and a notebook.
05 The second box has a doll, a sketchbook, some drawings on vellum, photos, handbooks, sheet music, some toys, and a notebook.
06 The third box was the largest. There were reels of 8 mm film, photo albums, Sketchbooks full of strange architectural drawings, and diaries.
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p a ra F I C T I O N t h e n a r ra t i v e
BOXES & CONTENTS
BOX 1
BOX
Mother and Infancy
Child
1920’s
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TIMELINE
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OX 2
BOX 3
dhood
Young Adulthood
30’s
1940’s -1960’s
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p a ra F I C T I O N c h a ra c t e r b u i l d i n g
The characters are built on factual events and plausible aspects. These aspects were then paired with photograph found that comes from the town.
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p a ra F I C T I O N the architecture
In order to create architecture as this person, Bridget, would create architecture, The Discontinuous Genealogies method created by Douglas Darden in his book, Condemned Buildings, was used.
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In order to use Darden’s method as a precedent, I first gathered images that are plausible to have been influences in Bridget’s life. Many of these influences are agricultural, local, aeronautical, and cultural influences.
grain silo
pivot circle
Spalding Dam
dust bowl home
1930s grain storage
water witcher
Piper Cub j3
Spalding station
Sputnik launching gear
downtown Spalding
old plow
Piper Cub drawings
top of St. Michaels
Russian plane
dust storm
tractor tire
Savage Bros. plane
Roman Missal
fall out shelter
Wizard of Oz
metal chicken house
Piper Cub dash
Spalding dam
Geiger counter
The Blob
1950’s tractor
beef cuts
railroad failure, Spalding
dream home ad
grain storage, Spalding
1950’s auger
windmill drawings
chicken house, Spalding
Russian missiles
1940’s passenger train
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soil rehab center
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G O C o b s e r va t i o n t o w e r
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fa l l o u t d r e a m v i l l a g e
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E A R LY ST U D I E S collage
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E A R LY ST U D I E S collage
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E A R LY ST U D I E S stories
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E A R LY ST U D I E S stories
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E A R LY ST U D I E S collage
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E A R LY ST U D I E S mapping
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Vineyard
Street
Vineyard
W Canal Street
Street
E Canal Street
E St. James Street
W St. James Street
N Pine Street
N Ash Street
N Cedar Street
N Elm Street
N Chestnut Street
N Walnut Street
N Linden Street
WPA Avenue
Marguerite Street
Marguerite Street
Old HWY 101
St. Joseph Street
St. Joseph Street
W Sullivan Street
E Sullivan Street
W Creamery Street
E Creamery Street
Park Avenue
Ra
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ad
Av
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Ra
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Old HWY 101
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B i b l i o g r a p hy Allen, Woody. Zelig. Comedy/Mockumentar y. Orion Pictures, 1983.
Blume, Michael. A Tribute to Safiye Behar. 2005. Mixed Media. http://www.blumology.net/safiyebehar.html. Blume, Michael. Monument to the Bir th of the 20th Centur y. 2005 2004. A campaign, an exhibition, a book. http://www.blumology.net/monument.html. Grabner, Michelle. “On Bullshit, Lies, Truthiness, and Parafiction.” X-TRA, SPRING 2009. https://www.x-traonline.org/ar ticle/on-bullshit-lies-truthiness-and-parafiction. Kurczynski, Karen. Review of Review of Being Watched: Yvonne Rainer and the 1960s, by Carrie Lamber t-Beatty. Woman’s Art Journal 30, no. 2 (2009): 61–64. LaMarche, Jean Review of The Life and Work of Douglas Darden: A Brief Encomium. Utopian Studies 9, no. 1 (1998): 162–72. Lamber t-Beatty, Carrie. “Carrie Lamber t-Beatty: Truth Bias.” Ar t Papers, Februar y 5, 2020. https://www.ar tpapers.org/carrie-lamber t-beatty-truth-bias/. Lamber t-Beatty, Carrie. “Make-Believe : Parafiction and Plausibility.” October 129 (2009): 51–84. Leatherbarrow, David. “The Project of Design Research,” n.d., 9. National Park Ser vice. “Civilian Conser vation Corps.” Accessed October 20, 2020. https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/histor yculture/civilian-conser vation-corps.htm. Mattes, Eva, and Franco Mattes. Vaticano.Org (1998) < Eva & Franco Mattes. 1998. Website. https://0100101110101101.org/vaticano-org/.
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Perucci, Tony. “Irritational Aesthetics: Reality Friction and Indecidable Theatre.” Theatre Journal 70, no. 4 (2018): 473–98. https://doi.org/10.1353/tj.2018.0098. Polley, Sarah. Stories We Tell. Documentar y. National Film Board of Canada (NFB), 2012. Schneider, Peter. “Disegno: On Drawing out the Archi-Texts.” Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) 61, no. 1 (2007): 19–22. Schneider, Peter.“Douglas Darden’s ‘Sex Shop’: An Immodest Proposal.” Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) 58, no. 2 (2004): 9–13. Speulda, Lou Ann. “Histor y of the CCC and WPA and Other Depression-Era Programs in Region 6 of the USFWS.” In Region 6: Historical and Architectural Assessment of the Depression Era Work Projects, 2003. Warren, Kate. “Double Trouble: Parafictional Personas and Contemporar y Ar t.” Persona Studies 2, no. 1 (May 17, 2016): 55–69. https://doi.org/10.21153/ps2016vol2no1ar t536. Young, Michael. “Drawings/Objects/Buildings/Texts: The Post-Medium Parafictional Scenarios of Young & Ayata,” 2014. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53d133fee4b088cc18049660/t/54c9a6aee4b0de03c96b7 70e/1422501550720/expanded+firm+statement+pdf.pdf. Young, Michael. The Estranged Object. Graham Foundation, 2015. Young, Michael, and Kutan Ayata. “The Ar t of the Plausible and the Aesthetics of Doubt.” Log, 2017.
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