Cinema in Architecture: A Synergism

CINEMA IN ARCHITECTURE : A SYNERGISM

A DISSERTATION Submitted by

PREETIKA B 2011701041 In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE under FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING in

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING

ANNAUNIVERSITY CHENNAI 600 025 NOVEMBER 2015

DECLARATION I declare that this Dissertation titled“CINEMA IN ARCHITECTURE : A SYNERGISM”is the result of my work and prepared by me under the guidance of .

Mr CEEJO CYRIAC, and that work reported herein does not form part of any other dissertation of this or any other University. Due acknowledgement have been made wherever anything has been borrowed from other sources.

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BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE Certified that this Dissertation forming part of Course work AD 9452, Dissertation, VIII semester , B.Arch, entitled “CINEMA IN ARCHITECTURE : A SYNERGISM�

Submitted by Ms. Preetika B Roll No2011701041to the Department of architecture, School of Architecture and Planning , Anna University, Chennai, 600 025 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor Degree in Architecture is a bonafide record of work carried by her under my supervision.Certified further that to the best of my knowledge the work reported herein does not form part of any other dissertation.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This writing of this dissertation has been one of the most interesting challenges I‘ve faced in my academic course so far. Its completion would not have been possible without the guidance of Mr.Ceejo Cyriac, who undertook to act as mysupervisor despite hismany other professional commitments. His comments and inputs during discussions have been invaluable in keep the dissertation going in the right path. I thank my co-intern and college-mate, Chandrasekaran, for patiently hearing me out and keeping me motivated. I also thank my family for being a constant source of support and love.

Contents 1. Introduction

2. Exploring relationships between Architecture and Cinema 2.1 Why Cinema?

2.2 Film + Architecture – Creating analogies 2.2.1 Reciprocity of Films and Architecture –Time and Space: 2.2.2 Architectural Space and Film Space: 2.3 Architecture in Cinema: 2.3.1 Cinema as Architecture 2.3.2. Architecture as a cinematic device 2.3.3 Evocative spaces in Cinema: 2.3.4 Cinema and Event-spaces: 2.4 Cinema in Architecture:

3. Narrative synergies- A comparison between Cinematic and Architectural Narratives 3.1 Cinematic Narratives- Form and Techniques 3.1.1 Elements of film form: 3.1.2 Principles for film form: 3.1.3 Plot Structure as Spatial diagrams: 3.1.4 Logic of first impressions: 3.1.5 Focalization in Cinema: 3.1.6 Spatial memory in Cinematic narratives: 3.2 Architectural Narratives:

4. Case Studies 4.1 Architecture in Cinema 4.1.1 The Hitchcockian Architecture – Architecture of suspense: 4.1.2 Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining

4.2Cinema in Architecture 4.2.1 OMA – Design as a script.

4.2.2 Park de la Villette, Bernard Tschumi 4.3 Cinema and Architecture – The area of in-between: 4.3.1 The Screenplays 4.3.2 Manhattan Transcripts

5. Evolving a Cinematic narrative process in architecture

6. Reflections and Conclusions:

List of Figures

Fig 1: Graphic showing how ideas are reduced to only what can be represented Fig 2: Relationships between Architecture and art, especially Cinema Fig 3: Scene from the movie Inception by Christopher Nolan, where architectural space has been used to bring out the cinematic narrative and ambience Fig 4: Graphic showing the mental process behind conception and perception of buildings Fig 5: Twin Peaks, David Lynch - The concept of dissolving borders between the public and private spaces seeps into his interiors where the tension between different levels, on staircases, in corridors and bedrooms transforms familiar spaces into particularly vulnerable locations-―uncanny frontiers.‖ Fig 6: Scenes from the movie Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock. The sterile bathroom space was a stark contrast to the frightening murder that happens there, one of Hitchcock‘s best cinematic moments. This scene, the space and emotions it evoked long remained in the minds of the people.

Fig 7: Graphic showing how the sequences and events in a film are broken down and ordered to generate the final film form Fig 9: The moment the audience realise that the protagonist is not who he believes himself to be.

Fig 10: The meadow and the forest are shown as dangerous and safe areas resp. throughout the movie, except in the climax, where the pattern is broken to challenge the viewer‘s spatial memory.

Fig 11: Graphic showing the comparisons between architectural and cinematic narratives.

Fig 12: The carefully conceived apartment space in Rear Window, where the surrounding context and the interior space blurs to emphasize the intrusion of the protagonist on the captivating lives of his neighbors Fig 13: The backyards of the Newyork apartments used as contexts for murder and fear Fig 15: Architectural elements like the staircase used to stimulate sense of vertigo Fig 16 : Scenes from Psycho showing the Bates Motel and the Gothic House on the hill with their plans Fig 17 The labyrinthine corridor shown in one-point perspective to trigger unease.

Fig 18: Conceptual sketches of Park de la Villette Fig19 : Cinematic Sequences in The Screenplays Fig 20: Series of frames or storyboards to illustrate the filmic progression of theory.

Fig 21: Graphic showing the segmented non-linear narrative structure of Memento that reflects the personal qualities of the character.

Fig 22: Christopher Nolan's sketch of the narrative structure of Inception, showing distinct storylines, relationships between them, important turning points in the film, etc.

Fig 23: Graphic showing detailed sequences in Memento and the turning point of the story where the two sequences meet. (by Greg Burney) Fig 24: Storyboard from the Life-scene in inception. Director: Chris Nolan, Artist: Gabriel Hardman

Abstract The history of architecture is not just limited to chronicling the accomplishments of architects and the evolution of building styles and construction. It is also a history of architectural representation and evocation in other fields of art and popular culture.

Representation of architectural intentions and ideas, which plays a major role in establishing dialogues during the design process, is critical since it influences the outcome of the design. Architecture‘s unique asset (or constraint) is that the means through which it materializes its concepts are also the means through which it expresses itself visually and socially. That is, the language we use to describe our ideas, shape our subsequent thoughts and ultimately the output, because we are mentally constrained by the limits of our modes of representation.

This deep questioning of the fundamentals of architecture necessitates liberation from the received, preconceived ideas of the discipline and a parallel questioning of its modes of representation. We need to look beyond architecture to convey human experiences, since experiences are triggered by a variety of factors, not just architecture.

Another medium that engages with similar parameters of space (frames) movement (scenes and events) and time (duration, time frames) for the expression of its narrative is cinema.

Cinematic narratives are effectively translated using spatial cues of architecture to evoke emotions in the viewers. Understanding this process of storytelling, by dissecting the language used for narrative processes in cinema, architects can draw similarities to the process of narrative translation in architecture. The can be adapted to architecture to evolve a new way in which architecture and cinema collaborate – not as tools for representation of the end product, but as part of the design process itself, a tool for translation of architectural thought and ideas.

A careful analysis of cinema and architecture was done to understand the various ways that they juxtapose. Film + Architecture‘ is a discipline between two disciplines and a discipline of the in-between. It deals with the pollution, the contamination of each

discipline, film and architecture, by the other. It looks at the way architectural-space and film-space collide, inform and reconfigure one another. Understanding how cinematic narratives are translated to form using the spatial cues of architecture would help us dissect the architectural narrative better. It would help us shape the story in space in a more evocative manner. This dissertation aims at understanding the multi-threaded relationships and encounters between the two fields before proposing a synergy between the two. This dissertation concludes with an attempt to develop a process that imbibes the process of developing the cinematic narrative in architectural narrative, to create a synergy between the two fields. A different relationship can be forged between architecture and people based on sensory, social and temporal qualities of mental and physical space, as informed by films. There have been numerous experiments at incorporating the ideologies of cinema in designing architectural spaces. This dissertation is one such attempt.

Chapter 1: Introduction ―One day, you decide to study architecture. You learn to draw plans, sections and axonometrics; make models; discover structure, materials, and even composition. Still, you feel that there is something missing in much of what you read and learn.

You are aware that architecture uses sophisticated means of notation - elevation, axonometrics, perspective views, and so on. But you soon realize that they don‘t tell you anything about sound, smell, touch, or the movement of bodies through space. (...)

The limits of my language are the limits of my world.‖ -Bernard Tschumi / Architecture Concepts

The history of architecture is not just limited to chronicling the accomplishments of architects and the evolution of building styles and construction. It is also a history of architectural representation and evocation in other fields of art and popular culture.

Architecture today is governed by the notions of form, aesthetic, functional requirements posed by the clients and the ―contextualism‖ that the architect strives to achieve right from the conceptualization of a design to its materialization. There is a lot of debate and discourse on form vs function. But before one starts exploring either of the two while designing, one has to understand the ideas and concepts that can potentially lead to form, and the expressionof such ideas.In the crucial juncture where architectural thought or ideas are translated from mind to paper, the direction of design that a project takes is determined.

Representation of architectural intentions and ideas, which plays a major role in establishing dialogues during the design process, is critical since it influences the outcome of the design. Architecture‘s unique asset (or constraint) is that the means through which it materializes its concepts are also the means through which it expresses itself visually and socially. That is, the language we use to describe our ideas, shape our subsequent thoughts and ultimately the output, because we are mentally constrained by the limits of our modes of representation.

Fig 1: Graphic showing how ideas are reduced to only what can be represented

However precise and generative plans, sections, and axonometrics may be, each implies a logical reduction of architectural thought to what can be shown, to the exclusion of other concerns. We are caught in a sort of prison-house of architectural language.Choosing one type or style in representation automatically highlights the chosen subject matter and increases its relevance in the design process. In this critical juncture, architects invariably choose representation modes that enhance the physical elements in space, the form, functionality of the design over how one actually experiences the space. Space has been systematically reduced to its representation. We are in dire need of a systematic, innovative language to depict the human experiences and emotions in architectural representation.

Architecture is essentially a juxtaposition of space, the events that happen within it, the movement of the bodies through it and program that brings it alive. These are the elements that the form of the building should be born out of :Space- Event – Movement –Time.

There exists a established graphic language to represent fundamental elements of design but no conventions or thought for expressing ―sequences of concurrent actions, feelings, and thoughts associated with given behavior patterns and given users, and the real-time sequential description of multisensory physical environments as experienced in movement‖ That is, conventional traditional modes of architectural representation are limited to the description of the material nature of designed spaces but not the experience of the quality of space. It describes form and not content. To offer another reading of architecture, we need to add the missing elements of movement and time to traditional plans, sections and

axonometrics, so that the dynamism of the human body can be inscribed into the otherwise static representation of architecture.

We lack the linguistic tools required for an experiential understanding of place, its communication and translation into design. This lack of a comprehensive language for the representation of human experience has resulted in an innate inability of architects to account for collective memories and experiences of the people inhabiting the designed space. This deep questioning of the fundamentals of architecture necessitates liberation from the received, preconceived ideas of the discipline and a parallel questioning of its modes of representation. We need to look beyond architecture to convey human experiences, since experiences are triggered by a variety of factors, not just architecture.

Architecture has always sought associations with other fields of art like music, dance, literature, cinema, etc., in bringing out the nuances of its own narrative. Architecture narrative is structured and translated into form using the parameters of space, events, movement and time.

Fig 2: Relationships between Architecture and art, especially Cinema

Another medium that engages with similar parameters of space (frames) movement (scenes and events) and time (duration, time frames) for the expression of its narrative is cinema.

Cinematic narratives are effectively translated using spatial cues of architecture to evoke emotions in the viewers.Understanding this process of storytelling, by dissecting the language used for narrative processes in cinema, architects can draw similarities to the process of narrative translation in architecture. The can be adapted to architecture to evolve a new way in which architecture and cinema collaborate – not as tools for representation of the end product, but as part of the design process itself, a tool for translation of architectural thought and ideas.

This dissertation questions the nature of relationships between architecture and cinema, how one can complement the other. What can architecture learn from the cinematicmedium to express human emotions and experiences more effectively?Can cinema be re-visualized as a non-representational tool, crucial in aiding the architectural design process and in expressing the nuances of the narrative? Can this synergy between the two fields be the basis for evolving an experimental architectural design process to break away from the limitations of current modes of representation?

Fig 3: Scene from the movie Inception by Christopher Nolan, where architectural space has been used to bring out the cinematic narrative and ambience

Chapter 2: Exploring relationships between Architecture and Cinema 2.1. Why Cinema?

Since times immemorial, architecture has sought connections with other fields of art like music, paintings, literature, and sculpture and so on. Films and architecture have had a long standing association, the most common being the analysis of films for architectural design education. Films have also been studied in architecture due to the similarity of concepts such as light, movement, space, sound and its ability to immerse the audience in a virtual architectural experience. Recently there has been an increasing interest in cinema for discovering a more subtle and responsive architecture.

More relevant is the study of films for their narrative structure and translation in comparison with architectural narratives. Architectural sequences are usually linear spatial progressions. In the 20th century, cinematic narratives began to explore non-linear progressions and were manipulated according to the demands of the narrative. The fabula and the szhuzet became distinct. While the former was explicitly linear, the latter was not.

This suggested new forms and translations even in the then-monotonous architectural sequence and narratives. Modern and Post Modern architects began adapting cinematic concepts to architectural theory and design. Bernard Tschumi, Rem Koolaas embraced the possibility of a marriage between two complementary fields of art, where one could inspire the other. 

Emotional Connect:

We engage with films easily as an audience. We feel transported to another space and time while watching the movie. We add our own interpretations to the narrative translated by the director as cinema. We rejoice and sympathize with the protagonist‘s actions, our bodies and emotions are tuned to the pulse of the narrative on screen, we visualize and mentally construct the spaces and places through visual and spatial cues onscreen, we become one with the movie, provided it touches an emotional chord with us. Similarly

architects also strive to evoke that emotional response in the users by creatively interpreting the needs of the prospective user into their designs. Therefore, films offer a representation that could be helpful to architects in expressing the meaning of emotive places. 

Articulation of Space:

The field of cinema is closer to architecture than other fields, because of its spatial and temporal structure, and fundamentally because both architecture and cinema articulate lived space. 

Cultural and Social Commentary:

Both cinema and architecture create and mediate images of life- they chronicle images of a culture and way of life of the era they depict and create experiential scenes of life situations. Architectural historians should look at the imaginary architecture of films which demonstrates the way people put meaning on the notions of home, culture and politics of the time, public spaces, landscapes, urban landmarks and so on. Both art forms define frames of life, situations of human interaction and horizons of understanding the world.

―The film camera could provide a new way of thinking about and looking at the city; a way to critically apprehend what seems to have become culturally invisible; to achieve an understanding of self in relation to others in the social space we inhabit.

-

Aaron Taylor Harvey / Cinematequetonics

2.2 Film + Architecture – Creating analogies Chistophe Gerard described ‗Film + Architecture‘ “as a discipline between two disciplines and a discipline of the in-between. It deals with the pollution, the contamination of each discipline, film and architecture, by the other. It looks at the way architectural-space and film-space collide, inform and reconfigure one another.”This dissertation aims at understanding the multi-threaded relationships and encounters between the two fields before proposing a synergy between the two.

2.2.1 Reciprocity of Films and Architecture –Time and Space: The relationship between architecture and cinema is one of reciprocity- architecture is a spatial construction in which time is embedded, and cinema a temporal construction in which space is embedded. According to Thomas Forget (author of The Construction of Drawings and Movies), this spatio-temporal reciprocity is critical because: 

Architecture and Cinema inform each other (assuming both are public experiences and not individual ones)



Cinema replicates the spatio-temporality of built spaces exactly.



And thus, cinema is a model of spatio-temporality that architecture should aspire to create.

Sergei Eisenstein wrote an essay called Montage and Architecture, where he defines architecture as the epitomes of the two most important operations of cinema: the construction of individual spatio-temporal moments and the composition of a hierarchy of spatio-temporal adjacencies.One needs to understand that this reciprocity between the two fields is basically amalgamation of space and time – an attempt to see how the two fuse to being out the essence of any work of architecture. Only architecture that reflects the importance of the dimension of time will ultimately stand the test of time- not in terms of its physical longevity but in terms of its emotional connection with people.

2.2.2 Architectural Space and Film Space: The Poetics of Architecture addresses the making of architecture (and cinema) simultaneously as an ―act of physical construction and a mental act of construing.‖ While we ponder the relationship between architectural space and film space we must remember that space is ultimately generated in our minds. Filmic space is a reconfigured space from the visual cues that we receive on screen; this is what helps us assimilate the narrative and orientation on screen. Cinema constructs spaces in the mind – mind spaces that reflect the ephemeral architecture of the human mind, thought and emotion. . It is an amalgamation of our perception and experience of space (physical space) with our inherent knowledge, contextual acclamation, past memories and mental psyche (mind space). This fusion of our „mind space‟ and „physical space‟ constitutes the „lived space‟.

Fig 4: Graphic showing the mental process behind conception and perception of buildings

Mental spaces are the subconscious ideas of space that are independent of physical realities of space and time. Lived Space is a combination of external space and inner mental space, where memory and dream, fear and desire, value and meaning, fuse with the actual perception.The modes of experiencing architecture and cinema become identical in this mental space, which meanders without fixed boundaries. Even in the art of architecture, a mental image is transferred from the experiential realm of the architect to the mental world of the observer, and the material building is a mere mediating object, an image object.

Mental Space + Material Space = Lived Space (Imagined space) (real space) (final perceived space)

Film-makers have always acknowledged that the encountered, remembered and imagined are equal experiences in our consciousness; we may be equally moved by something evoked by the imagined as by the actually encountered. The role of the mind and mental spaces in aiding the understanding of filmic spaces is crucial in the interpretation of the narrative by the viewer. We discern the invisible boundaries of filmic space by the cues we receive- like motion, sounds, light, and extents of the frame. Filmic space highlights specific aspects of physical space like social spaces, sensorial spaces, etc., that architects contribute to, which is why influx of cinema in architecture is a good way to broaden our understanding of physical and mental spaces. ―Experiencing a space is a dialogue, a kind of exchange- I place myself in the space and the space settles in me. This identification of physical and mental space is intuitively grasped by writers and film directors (and not so by architects).‖ -

Juhani Pallasmaa

We need to have a filmic approach to architecture and an architectural approach to films.

And the knowledge of one domain should enrich the other.The very ability of films to stimulate mental spaces is the crucial juncture where architecture and films meet. Films, in generating space, become architecture.

2.3 Architecture in Cinema: Architectural Cinema is a term that encompasses various spatial narrative tactics that elucidate new configurations of spatial cinema where narratives are embedded within space.The architecture of cinema does not possess a utilitarian or inherent value - the characters, events and architecture interact and designate each other. The ambience of the cinematic episode is given by architecture and the meanings of the event are projected on the space.

2.3.1 Cinema as Architecture: All films have an architectural layer to them, whether actual buildings are shown in the film or not, because the very act of framing an image, the definition of scale or illumination, implies the establishment of a distinct place. On, the other hand, establishing a place is the fundamental task of architecture. Architects strive to create spaces that bring out the sense of place in the minds of the potential users.

Fig 5: Twin Peaks, David Lynch - The concept of dissolving borders between the public and private spaces seeps into his interiors where the tension between different levels, on staircases, in corridors and bedrooms transforms familiar spaces into particularly vulnerable locations-―uncanny frontiers.‖

2.3.2. Architecture as a cinematic device: Some classic issues from environmentbehavior studies--privacy, personalspace, territoriality, crowding; environmental perception, cognition, and symbolism--have played dramatic roles in cinema. Architecture and the built environment have been used as vehicles for various cinematic devices. 

Architecture as backdrop or setting

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Use of architecture to enhance mood and context

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Metaphorical representations through architecture

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Direct representation of narrative elements through architecture

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Architecture as an active character

2.3.3 Evocative spaces in Cinema: The spatial cues that govern cinematic and architectural narrative are the same – place, event, movement, and time.But, the essence of architectural space as determined by the film-maker is free of the functional requirements, technical restrictions and limitations of the professional architecture. It is a direct response to the narrative and a reflection of the mental images, memories and dreams of the director– architecture of the mind. This is why cinematic spaces effectively convey the meaning and trigger emotional responses in the viewers. The built architecture of today tends to confine emotional response to the realm of utilitarian rationality, but the inherent architecture of cinema projects the full range of human emotions: fear and despair, alienation and nostalgia, affection and intimacy, longing and bliss.Architectural spaces can have the same effect only if it can touch the datum of forgotten memories and feelings.The value of a great film is not in the images projected in front of our eyes, but in the images and feelings that the film entices from our soul. Similarly, the value of great architecture is not in its material existence but the images and emotions that it evokes in the observer.

The focus of this analysis of spaces in films is to understand how spatial cues are manipulated to elicit specific mental states and responses from the viewers upon experiencing the narrative.

2.3.4 Cinema and Event-spaces: Space acquires meaning through the events that happen in it. Cinematic events like a kiss or a murder convey different meanings according to the place it takes place in (bedroom, elevator, car, etc.), its symbolic and historic relevance, time of the day, lighting levels, and so on. Filmmakers unknowingly create architecture while defining the context of cinematic events, which are inseparable from architectural space, place and time. It is this independence and innocence from professional discipline of architecture that makes the architecture of cinema so subtle and revealing. Creating cinematic architecture solely for events makes the space responsive and evocative.

Only when architectural design process takes into account the importance of designing for events, their contexts and their demands, can it be sensitive and evocative.

Fig 6: Scenes from the movie Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock. The sterile bathroom space was a stark contrast to the frightening murder that happens there, one of Hitchcock‘s best cinematic moments. This scene, the space and emotions it evoked long remained in the minds of the people.

2.4 Cinema in Architecture: ―Architecture exists, like cinema, in the dimension of time and movement. One conceives and reads a building in terms of sequences. To erect a building is to predict and seek effects of contrast and linkage through which one passes... In the continuous shot/sequence that a building is, the architect works with cuts and edits, framings and openings... I like to work with a depth of field, reading space in terms of its thickness, hence their superimposition of different screens, planes legible from obligatory joints of passage which are to be found in all my buildings...‖ -Jean Nouvel As Juhani Pallasmaa puts it, the interaction of cinema and architecture - the inherent architecture of cinematic expression, and the cinematic essence of architectural experience - is equally many- sided. The process of constructing architecture through film enriches the meaning of architecture and enables architects to form a more complete, holistic idea of the building being designed. Architecture is visualized as a juxtaposed spatial sequence of rooms acting like the images of film, where each space is inflected by the previous one. The influence of films made architects like Bernard Tschumi look at adjoining spaces and create a stronger connection between them. This prompted a change in the design process itself. It helps them re-notice the poetics of the designed space, when looked at in the eyes of the film maker. Designing and building spaces to live poetically have become increasingly difficult in the fast paced, desensitized world, where architects forget to use the poetic images that are our memories.

The Poetics of Space applies the method of phenomenology to architecture based on lived experience of architecture and the architecture of imagination. It can enable designers create spaces where personal experience can reach its epitome. Architecture spaces then become the property of the innocent consciousness, something which precedes conscious thought, does not require knowledge and is the direct product of the heart and

soul. Using it in the design process is a way of making architecture for people that gives a sharper awareness of the world they live in.

“Poetic architecture taps into that moment when architecture transcends itself, when it becomes more than simply a physical space — and exudes to a sense of place and beauty that words cannot often describe.‖ Architecture is usually analyzed and taught as a discipline that articulates space and gjeometry, but the mental impact of architecture arises significantly from its experiential quality, which can only be learnt through cinema.

Direction of thought: 

This dissertation proposes an analysis of parallel conditions in architecture and cinema - particularly the conceptualization and composition of place, space, time, materiality and narrative. It also proposes a reconsideration of cinema as a non-representational art in architecture that can aid in the architectural design process.



Tapping the potential of cinema in architecture helps us understand the poetics of space and create sensitive, meaningful spaces that trigger evocative responses in people.



Architecture (and cinema) is an exchange of experiential feelings and meanings between the material space and the mental space of the subject.

Cinema can sensitize the architectural profession for the subtleties of this interaction.



However one should understand the limitation of cinematic space vs architectural space while speculating on the potential of such representations in architecture.

Chapter 3: Narrative synergies- A comparison between Cinematic and Architectural Narratives Architecture and films begin as dreams—they are formed in the recesses of our minds, a product of our imagination. Cinema becomes concrete piece of work when a script/narrative is written, storyboarded, and shot. Similarly, architecture becomes tangible through drawings and models expressing the architect‘s idea of place but it is the narrative that shapes the experience. Narratives are considered a transmedium phenomenon.

Narratives not just describe events in time but also change, which keeps a narrative going.

Understanding how cinematic narratives are translated to form using the spatial cues of architecture would help us dissect the architectural narrative better. It would help us shape the story in space in a more evocative manner. But first, understanding the fundamentals of architectural and cinematic narratives is critical for the successful consolidation of both in generating spaces.

3.1 Cinematic Narratives- Form and Techniques This chapter aims to consolidate all the theories and techniques used in the construction of film form that has relevance to architectural narrative process. First, a distinction is made between the story and the narrative. Story is the content or fabula, and narrative the form or syuzhet, i.e., the way in which a story is structured and presented. 

The syuzhet can juggle the order of fabula events, providing a flashback or flash forward.



It can manipulate fabula duration, stretching out or compressing the time that events consume.



Cinematic narration can also be more or less objective, remaining resolutely on the ―outside‖ or pulling us into characters‘ minds via memories, dreams, or imaginings.

―There are no jerks in time or space in real life. Time and space are continuous. Not so in film. The period of time that is being photographed may be interrupted at any point.

Another that takes place at a totally different time may immediately follow one scene.

And the continuity of space may be broken in the same manner‖ - ‗Film Art, an Introduction‘,David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson

3.1.1 Elements of film form: Cinematic form is generated by a set of representational, organizational and discursive cues that convey the story to the audience. The basic elements of film form are: 

Narrative (what to shoot)



Mise-en scene (how to shoot)



Editing / montage (how to present the shot)

Narrative, simply put, is the way in which a story is told, constructed. Narrative is the conceptual process of a film and it builds up the initial steps of the design. It is limited only the boundaries of imaginary world.

Mise-en-scene is the frame- the basis of composition in a moving picture that determines what we see and how we see it. It deals with the main graphic composition of the shot considering the framing of the image, the placement of the figures within the frame, the organization and division of space, the special relations of figures and objects, and the movements of figures within the frame and their relations in space.

Editing / montage determines how separate shots of events are cut and joined together to suggest a sense of a continuing, connected and realistic flow of events and narrative. It is the transitions and relations from shot to shot, from scene to scene, using of rhythms, patterns, continuities and discontinuities to communicate ideas, feelings or attitudes ―A film is designed three times in production; at first on paper, second at the set and third in the editing/montage room.‖

Fig 7: Graphic showing how the sequences and events in a film are broken down and ordered to generate the final film form

3.1.2 Principles for film form: The five general principles for a film that the spectator perceives in a film‘s formal system: ―function, similarity and repetition, difference and variation, development, and unity / disunity‖ Similarity and repetition of elements is used to create motifs and the feeling of parallelism; the oppositions and differentiations between the elements is created for contrast and variety; the degree of development reveals the overall form; and the degree of unity and disunity between the elements are the basic principles of film form.

3.1.3 Plot Structure as Spatial diagrams: Plot structure refers to the specific ways that a narrative arranges story incidents— flashbacks, ellipses, and other patterns. Aristotle theorized that plot-structure can be split into four parts: exposition, rising action, climax, and denouement. Hollywood films usually follow a three-act structure, having the rough proportions of 1:2:1. In the first act a problem or conflict is established. The second act develops that conflict to a peak of intensity. The final act constitutes a climax and denouement.

The framework of plot can be visualized as spatial diagrams that convey the macrostructures of the entire narrative. This helps us understand the spatio-temporality of narrative structures and network affiliations between events and characters. Aristotle‘s structureevoke certain geometric, spatial figures- A rising pattern of action can be visualized as a curve or vector, continuing as a ―dramatic pyramid‖, that conceives the plot action as leading to a central climax (principal turning point)- the apex of a triangle, followed by a decrease in tension (the anticlimax).

Similarly, stories embedded in stories that nest inside still other stories, evoke images of rectangles enclosing other rectangles. The Locket (1946) displays this ―Chinese box‖ structure, with one flashback inside another, and both inside a third. E. M. Forster spoke of Henry James‘ novel The Ambassadors as having theshape of an hourglass, with two lines of action meeting at a central juncture. Or we canconceive distinct lines of action as forming parallel lines, or as entwining into a braid, withthe trajectories splitting and converging at crucial points. Thus it may be helpful tothink of the pair of stories in Chungking Express as giving the plot a dumbbell shape: twotales linked by one character passing between them. In the movie Memento by Christopher Nolan, the entire movie has presented as two sequences, one in the present (black/white) moving forwards, and the another (color) plays in reverse, from the actual end to the middle of the story (the climax).This can be visualized as two sequences meeting at the middle, which is the end of the movie. Movies like Babel and Crash,have nonlinear narratives with multiple storylines within them, visualized as four separate lines intersecting at distinct points in the story.

This exercise is analogous to the mapping of user trajectories and resulting circulation patterns in architecture, which is the primary layer that leads to the generation of form and space.

3.1.4 Logic of first impressions: In the Poetics of Cinema, the three major emotional drives of a narrative are extolled – Curiosity, suspense and surprise.Curiosity stems from past events: What led up to what we‘re seeing now? Suspense points us forward: What will happen next? Surprise foils our expectations and demands that we find alternative explanations for what has happened.

The arrangements of the events of the plot arouse and fulfill these cognition-based emotions. The author further illustrates this point by the following exercise: In this sequence of words, which one doesn‘t belong?

Skyscraper

Temple

Cathedral

Prayer

Most people would say Prayer, because the first three terms refer to types of buildings. But if we present the words in this sequence: Prayer

Cathedral

Temple

Skyscraper

People usually say that Skyscraper is the outlier, because the first three items refer to religion. This is what psychologists call the primacy effect. The order of events governs how we understand them, and the first item has greater saliency. Likewise, a film‘s opening sets a benchmark against which we measure what happens later. The characters we first encounter, the point at which we enter the story and other elements shape our inferences. Filmmakers use the technique where the narration creates distinctive effects by letting us trust too much in what we see at the outset. This narrative strategy has been put to good use in films like The Usual Suspects (1995), which makes us revisit initial action and rethink what we thought we knew.

Architectural narratives are also driven by similar intents of curiosity, suspense and surprise. The logic of first impressions in architecture can be manipulated to instill moments of surprise within the narrative when the very space and its dynamics surprises the user and makes him/her rethink the initial interpretations and perceptions. This can sustain a continuous interest in the spatial narratives and foster a sense of attachment to the space, provided, the curiosity and suspense trigger exciting memories within the user‟s mind.

3.1.5 Focalization in Cinema: This is a technique used in films where the plot remains always, or for the most part, in the same space as a particular character, that is, it is focalized through that character. A number of Hollywood films in recent years, such as The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994), The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan, 1999), Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999) and Memento (Christophor Nolan, have played with the conventions of focalization, providing focalizers whose understanding is partial or deluded. Such strategies influence our response to characters, either through provoking distrust of the characters‘ unreliability or pleasure at the plot‘s ingenuity.

In architecture, focalization of every character moving through the space will help us generate unique trajectories and narratives for every individual, thus bringing out the collective narratives and memories of the larger crowd. Architecture would then cater to both the individual and the collective and become a repository of both individual and the collective knowledge.

Fig 9: The moment the audience realise that the protagonist is not who he believes himself to be.

3.1.6 Spatial memory in Cinematic narratives: The plot also stages the story across space as well as across time. For example, In Bambi the story takes place in the two distinct spaces of the forest and the meadow, and we are guided as to the type of story-incident liable to occur in the meadow on Bambi‘s first visit there, when his mother warns him that ‗Out there we are unprotected.‘ When the plot next dramatizes a scene on the meadow Bambi is stranded whilst gunfire sounds off-screen, and in the third meadow scene Bambi‘s mother is shot. The plot therefore uses the spaces of the story to alternate between periods of safety (represented by the forest) and danger (represented by the meadow). The climax of the narrative is signaled by a breaking of this pattern, and we are alarmed by the threat of the hunt and the fire precisely because they invade the safe spaces of the forest. The plot‘s staging of the action in space is also crucial to our grasp of narrative point of view.

Fig 10: The meadow and the forest are shown as dangerous and safe areas resp. throughout the movie, except in the climax, where the pattern is broken to challenge the viewer‘s spatial memory.

Similarly, in architecture has spatial and contextual memories attached to them which can we extracted while designing. Moreover, these preconceived memories can be manipulated and contradicted to evoke feelings of surprise and attachment.

3.2 Architectural Narratives: Architectural narratives bring spaces to life. They inscribe stories onto the fabric of spaces that strike an emotional and mental chord with the users. Architecture is nothing but storytelling in space using place, time, event and movement through the spaces as cues that bring out the narrative.

Stories are the building blocks of architectural proposals and aid in the crucial transition of an idea into design. Through the various stages of storytelling, the general ideas, challenges, potential and thereby, the outcome of the project is formulated. Paul Ricoeur defined this process as ‗miseen intrigue‘ or emplotment – All creative ideas have a plot, a structure, and patterns and internal tensions that make it legible to the reader/user/viewer. More importantly, narratives have the power of “creating memory”, “making what’s absent present” ―Architecture is a Conversation, And Architects are Storytellers‖ – Bernard Tschumi

Fig 11: Graphic showing the comparisons between architectural and cinematic narratives.

Spaces are constructed and sequenced as a narrative, in the minds of the architect, who has to plot it and structure it, but becomes a part of the life of somebody else, who establishes a relationship with it. Therefore, an architect has to be sensitive to the emotions and experiences of the users in order to create spaces that communicates and becomes one with them.

The experience of space is mostly nonlinear and is not bound by a definite timeline like it is in cinema. In cinema, the director has complete control over the pace, duration of the shots and depth of focus in every scene, whereas the architect cannot predict the nature of interpretations of the end users – the narrative may not remain true to his intentions over time. To ensure that the spaces are interpreted properly, the architect may resort to manipulation of the user through careful conception of frames, viewpoints and events, which deprives the user of the natural process of self-interpretation and perception.

Architecture can break away from the shackles of technical aesthetic jargons and reach out to the people- it can echo the culture and pulse of the society of its time and stand as a testament to the life stories of the general public – IF it communicates with people.

Architectural narratives are tools for communication; a medium through with people can project their own memories onto the space and add multiple meanings and interpretations to it over time.

We have seen the similarities between architectural and cinematic narratives - Both aim to convey a story with a plot and distinct sequences – space, time and events are the factors that shape the narrative. Can architecture narratives incorporate the process behind the development of cinematic narrative in development of architectural spaces?

Chapter Four: Case Studies The case studies chosen for this dissertation have been distinctly spilt into three categories to understand separately, the influence of the disciplines of Cinema and Architecture on each other and the area of the in-between, where they intersect and merge to form whole new meanings and possibilities.

4.1 Architecture in Cinema 4.1.1 The Hitchcockian Architecture – Architecture of suspense: 4.1.2 Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining

4.2Cinema in Architecture 4.2.1 OMA – Design as a script.

4.2.2 Park de la Villette, Bernard Tschumi 4.3 Cinema and Architecture – The area of in-between: 4.3.1 The Screenplays 4.3.2 Manhattan Transcripts

4.1 Architecture in Cinema: 4.1.1 The Hitchcockian Architecture – Architecture of suspense: The physical realm and abstract notions of space are deeply connected to our memories, dreams, fears, desires and everyday existence. Cinematic portrayals of architectural spaces rely on our perception of spaces like the attic, basement and bedrooms in our everyday life.

Alfred Hitchcock, one of the most acclaimed directors of the 20th century, was acutely aware of that. Architecture played an important role in his films in bringing out the cinematic narrative and in evoking certain emotions associated with the architectural space and imagery. He filmed it, he designed it, and he evoked it. Specific architectural motifs like the stairs and windows and the use of spaces of confinement, perspective, labyrinthine

hallways are closely connected to his narrative structures- suspense and voyeurism. His single set films like Rope and Rear Window specially explore the effect that the confines one space has on the human psyche and the transformative nature of architecture in being both a respite from danger as well as an uncanny labyrinth and trap by itself (The Birds).

His spaces symbolize the protagonists- the spatial quality and character mirror the inner psyche of the characters in his films. Architecture is assigned the task of being a resonator or amplifier of mental impact, as mediated by the director. “The impact of the image is of the first importance in a medium that directs the concentration of the eye so that it cannot stray. In the theater, the eye wanders, while the word commands. In the cinema, the audience is led wherever the director wishes.�

-Alfred Hitchcock

Fig 12: The carefully conceived apartment space in Rear Window, where the surrounding context and the interior space blurs to emphasize the intrusion of the protagonist on the captivating lives of his neighbors.

Alfred Hitchcock identified the most potent encounters of architecture, such as: the image of the house in the landscape; the mask-like appearance of the facade; the role of doors and windows as mediators between two worlds and as framing devices; the intimacy and domesticity projected by a fireplace; the focusing and ritualizing role of a table; the privacy and secrecy of a bed, the sensuality of a bath, staircases as points of transition, etc. His is architecture of terror that surveys the architectural metaphysics of fear.

Steven Jacob(The Wrong House – The Architecture of Alfred Hitchcock) arguesthat Hitchcock isan architect as well as a filmmaker, where the quality of architecture that he produced did notoriginate from a traditional architectural design and representation methodology. He adopted the reverse methodology of drawing perspective views of architectural propositions andthen creating plan fragments.

Here, I present an architectural analysis of three of his films and the symbolism and meaning behind the cinematic spaces.

1. The Rear Window - The Phenomenon of the Confined Space 2. Vertigo- The Phenomenon of the Staircase 3. Psycho- The Phenomenon of the Building-type 1. The Rear Window – The Phenomenon of the Confined Space Hitchcock‘s Rear Window has been a topic of discussion in many architecture school seminars as architecture is a clear character in the narrative. Architecture has been carefully considered to reinforce the narrative of the film—the characters‘ actions are seamlessly intertwined with the space. The setting for the film is the rear courtyard of several apartment buildings in New York City‘s Greenwich Village. Stuck in his apartment with a broken leg, a magazine photographer takes an interest in the lives of the other tenets seen through his rear window. A scream in a sleepless night makes him suspect a murder has taken place.

Fig 13: The backyards of the Newyork apartments used as contexts for murder and fear

―Rear Window is an architectural expression of a cinematic idea that challenges cinematic troupes by presenting a rich montage within the miseen scene; segmenting the action of different players but presenting them all at once. By drastically reducing the realm of experience and then articulating every moment of it, Hitchcock creates a hermetic experiential space that contains disparate data but still seems coherent.‖ -

Aaron Taylor Harvey / Cinematequetonics

A fine example of his brand of chamber drama‖, where he characterized the life of individuals in a claustrophobic environment – the very space they are in turns into a vessel of fear. Architecture is a very active part of the narrative, a blueprint on which he plotted the film‘s psychological content and choreographed its dramatic movements. A rear window, a simple architectural element separating the protagonist from the world, becomes a gateway, a puzzle, even a mirror for self-introspection.

2. Vertigo- The Phenomenon of the Staircase Articulation of Space through architectural imagery creates the dramatic and choreographic rhythm of any film. Stairs and staircases have an especially central role in cinematic dramaturgy. The staircase is not an 'architectural element' but an architectural imagesymbolic spine of the house.

Fig 15: Architectural elements like the staircase used to stimulate sense of vertigo

The staircase, which is a dynamic and spatially fragmented structure, is often used as places of crisis and psychological tension, and the skewed perspective he adopts evoke a deeply unsettling feeling in the users. He photographed the staircases from above to express vertigo, falling or panicked escape. The staircase is used to signify a ―search‖, a curiosity that provokes the protagonist to seek, to find. Every step upwards or downwards heightens the feeling suspense in the minds of the viewer- It advances but also delays the end.

3. Psycho- The Phenomenon of the Building-type Alfred Hitchcock was interested in the banality of the building type. The two buildings in Psycho, the vulgar modernist horizontal motel of Norman Bates and the vertical Gothic mansion on top of the hill form a deliberate architectural composition- a metaphor for the contrasting lives the psychopath leads. The apparent rationality of the motel beguiles the dreadfulness of the house. The strategy of contrasts is also applied elsewhere in the film.

The scene of the frightening murder, the gleaming white bathroom of the motel, evokes the controlled sterility of an operating theater. The white bathroom obtains its special image power through its contrast to the fathomless darkness of the adjacent bog, Norman's graveyard.

Hitchcock‘s narrative depends on architecture to define spatial settings that in turn symbolize the transition of the characters and the plotline. In this movie Hitchcock borrows from Gaston Bachelard‘s idea of the ‗oneiric house‘ – three or four floored houses where the middle floors are the stages of everyday life, the attic is the storage of pleasant memories and the basement is the area of negative remembrances. In the final scenes of Psycho, the different floors of the Bates Mansion attain meaning when Lila escapes down into the basement where she finds the terrifying, mummified corpse of Norman's mother.

Norman‘s room in the Gothic house was deliberately made oppressively small compared to the large room of his mother. The smothering, oppression of the mother was the main reason for his turning into a psychopath. That room becomes the setting stage for when he turns into his mother. Architecture here becomes more than a set. It becomes a metaphor for the life of Norman, a premonition of what is to come, what he is to become.

Fig 16 : Scenes from Psycho showing the Bates Motel and the Gothic House on the hill with their plans

4.1.2 Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining The film takes place within a Hotel that the protagonist and his family occupy. The audience is immediately presented with an understanding of how this space is detached from civilization. There are also only a handful of scenes that take place outside of the walls of the hotel. It‘s within this controlled space that Stanley Kubrick sets his film.

Fig 17: The labyrinthine corridor shown in one-point perspective to trigger unease.

The feeling of isolation established here grows steadily throughout the movie as the hotel becomes increasingly snowed-in. This same theme is continued inside when one weighs the vast immensity of the sets against the three tiny occupants; the spaces in the Hotel seem to overpower the characters of the film, exposing them as vulnerable, abandoned and, comparatively, insignificant. The use of symmetry is also prevalent in the set design for The Shining: used to echo the duality present within the story, and also to make anything not a part of that symmetry (for instance, a character or prop) feel out of place. The geometric carpet designs used throughout the film that also play into this symmetry are bright and read almost like optical illusions, giving the viewer the feeling that they might be absorbed into the space. Finally, the frequent use of corridors, and the presence of their outdoor equivalent, the hedge maze, is also key in creating the atmosphere for this movie.

These elements give the hotel the feel of a labyrinth, where one never knows what lurks

beyond the next corner, and also reference the labyrinth of Greek mythology – an iconography which supports the notion that something sinister is hidden deep within the recesses of the Hotel. The stark one point perspective used in the corridor scenes where Danny rides around the hotel with his tricycle, accentuates the feeling of suspense and intrigue. The linearity of the corridors and labyrinth reinforces the inescapability of the space.

Inferences from the Architecture of Films: The Bates Motel in the movie Psycho, the urban setting and the courtyards of rear Window, the Bell tower in Vertigo, speaks of architecture that is a pure translation of cinematic narrative. Architecture solely becomes the tool for stimulating emotional responses in the users, unburdened by the constraints of functionality.

We gradually become familiar with cinematic spaces, building up own mental maps through cognition and memory, creating our own symbolism for spaces and their meaning in the cinematic narrative. We infuse individual emotions onto the filmic narrative and create our version of the art. Similarly, even in architecture we create mental maps of our spaces, past and present and project our emotions on the canvas of architecture.

4.2

Cinema in Architecture:

4.2.1 OMA – Design as a script: Rem Koolhaas has actively pursued in interest in the relationship between architecture and cinema ever since he wrote his manifesto: Delirious New York. Having worked as a filmmaker and screenwriter in the late 1960s, he says that there is little difference between architecture and film – ―The art of the scriptwriter is to conceive sequences of episodes which build suspense and a chain of events. ―The largest part of my work is montage… spatial montage.”

His mode of practice and writings on architecture still reflect the lingering influence of film. Koolhaas‘s concept of the ‗generic city‘ is insistently typical and has the advantage of releasing its inhabitants from the constraints of history and memory that usually accumulate in cities. ―Like a Hollywood studio lot, it can produce a new identity every Monday morning.‖ This anonymity of architecture advocated by Koolhaas in his theory of generic cities and cinema, though converse to Juhani Pallasmaa‘s theory of existential spaces, talks of potential of cinema in shaping architectural thought and process.

4.2.2 Park de la Villette, Bernard Tschumi: Bernard Tschumienvisioned Park de la Villette as a system of collisions between points, lines and plans that create formal events, beyond the control of the architect and the expectations of the park goer. The signature reference to the reciprocity between architecture and cinema is its cinematic promenade, which is a linear walkway that slices throught he park in a sinuous manner. In plan it reads as a winding picturesque path like a piece of film that has been removed from its reel. A sequence of gardens lines its path, where each garden has a unique conceptual identity and is envisioned as a scene or a shot

within the sequence of the cinematic montage.What Tschumi creates in la Villette, is a space where visitors are led along paths that collide into others,allowing for the chance of unexpected encounters at points of junction.

In this project, the promenade of gardens designed as a ―film strip‖ dealing with the Eisenstein‘s strategy about the vertical and horizontal configurations of ―shots‖ highlights the potential of editing / montage in the field of architecture, not only as a design principle but also as the basis of perception and experience of space. Random images are spliced together tocreate a surreal effect on our conscious, changing the perception of what we are seeing, so that we formour own version of what we are being shown. With walkways intersecting walkways, Tschumi provides uswith the sort of walkways where one can just wander around and get lost and can end up in the strangest spots. However, this inherent logic in the paths is broken down by the follies, which capturethe essence of this cinematic language that Tschumi disseminates. His follies lack any sense ofsymbolism in their form or function. Instead, they are merely directional vectors of our perception ofspace.

Tschumi‘sParc de la Villette is, therefore, setting a stage or platform for event to happen, rather thanimposing a single narrative like Le Corbusier does in his photographs of Villa Savoye. This deconstructionof form is important because, the greatest act of which cinema and architecture are capable ofis keeping the idea of change going. The program can be in constant change according to need where one of thestructures has even recently changed from a restaurant, to a gardening centre, to an arts workshop, while the Parc as a whole still retained itsoverall identity.

The Parc, therefore, has a mutable quality even in the structures that retain some semblance of form.Even when we are invited to be spectators, the changes that come about remind us of our lack of abilityto perceive truth in reality –that architecture is unstable.

Fig 18: Conceptual sketches of Park de la Villette

4.3. Cinema and Architecture – The area of in-between: Bernard Tschumi was one of the foremost post-modern architects to acknowledge the role of cinema in their architectural design processes. He was particularly fascinated by the potential of the ―frame‖, an intrinsic component of cinema, in establishing new viewpoints and concepts to order the architectural sequence. He advocated that the current modes of representation in architecture were inadequate in expressing the parameters of space-eventmovement-time matrix. In The Screenplays and Manhattan Transcripts, he devised new syntaxes, vocabulary and language of architectural thought and representation that formed the bridge between cinema and architecture.

4.3.1 The Screenplays (1976) The Screenplays was an extensive program and theory that Tschumi developed, based on the technique of montage to develop architectural projections and expressions. According to his brief on the experiment, The Screenplays are investigations of concepts as well as techniques, proposing simple hypotheses and then testing them out. They explore the relation between events ("the program") and architectural spaces, on one hand, and transformational devices of a sequential nature, on the other.

The use of film images in these works originated in an interest in sequences and programmatic concerns. Rather than composing fictional events or sequences, it seemed more informative to act upon existing ones. The cinema thus was an obvious source. At the same time, the rich formal and narrative inventions of 20thcentury art inevitably encouraged parallels with current architectural thought.

Flashbacks, crosscutting, jumpcuts, dissolves and other editing devices provided a rich set of analogies to the time-and-space nature of architecture. Yet the concerns of the Screenplays were essentially architectural. They dealt with issues of material (generators of form: reality, abstraction, movement, events, and so forth), device

(disjunction, distortion, repetition, and superimposition), and counterpoint (between movement and space, events and spaces, for example). The Screenplays aimed at developing a contemporary set of architectural tools.

-

Bernard Tschumi, The Screenplays

Fig19 : Cinematic Sequences in The Screenplays

4.3.2 The Manhattan Transcripts (1976-1981) The Manhattan Transcripts was an experiment at redefining notations of movement, events and time in space: a synergy between architecture and cinematic sensibility and thought.

The temporality of the transcripts, the frame by frame technique and the silent dynamism of action within the frames are all analogous to cinema. Like in cinema, Tschumi presented the narrative such that the relationship of one frame to another was indispensable – no frame could be read in isolation. They establish a memory of the preceding frame, of the course of events such that their final meaning is cumulative, based on a succession of frames or spaces. It gains meaning in its totality and context.

―The Transcripts aimed to offer a different reading of architecture in which space, movement and events are independent, yet stand in a new relation to one another, so that the conventional components of architecture are broken down and rebuilt along different axes. While the programs used for The Manhattan Transcripts are of the most extreme nature, they also parallel the most common formula plot: the archetype of murder. By going beyond the conventional definition of use and program, The Transcripts used their tentative format to explore unlikely confrontations in space‖

Fig 20: Series of frames or storyboards to illustrate the filmic progression of theory.

Decoding the Transcripts: The Manhattan Transcripts was an experiment – not to invent a new architecture but to invent a novel way of transcribing and describing the relationship between the city and architecture. Tschumi questions the modes of representation used by architects and their shortcomings in transcribing events, movement and the dimension of time. Organized in the manner of storyboards, each sequence describes an action in a place, and the movements of the protagonists.

The narrative traces a murder mystery in a prose, in four episodes: The Park, The Street, The Tower, The Block - that sets up the theory of motion-action-space. It is represented as a series of images intercepted by shots of films that highlights the potential of movement in space. He traces the movement in space through notation, and projects it in two and three dimensions − plan and section, and axonometric. The result is never a single, static spatial solution, but a series of spaces that retain echoes of the preceding space and operations. ―The narrative informs movement, movement notation eventually informs physical elements, while three-dimensional „pantographic‟ translations inform the spatial construct achieved.”

Inferences from Manhattan Transcripts: 1. The film analogy: Having been an advocate for investigating possible parallels between architecture and films, Tschumi structured the Transcripts to masquerade as a film sequence. The architecture-film analogy is the strongest in the fourth transcript titled ‗The Block‘ On the 'object timeline', Tschumi draws a frame like a film roll around each square, while at the same time representing an arched building complex, with doors at the bottom and windows all around. The analogy with film is reinforced by representing the movement timeline as animation frames.

The film analogy is also reflected in its temporality, the use of framed sequences, the organization of the material in timelines and ‗takes‘. Most importantly, the film metaphor is an attempt to prove and exhibit, the theory of space created by event.

2. Concept of Time: The serialization of an event into choreographed sequences that combine the effects of place and movement over time enables the projection of spaces from them. The axonometric spaces are extracted from the juxtapositions of events and movements. The space is not looked as a static entity, but as one that changes over time.

3. Notational Experiments: Manhattan Transcripts was a notation experiment, with the intention to arrive at new tools and methods of representation. The visual language Tschumi developed here is rich in linear drawings, showing plans and elevations of architectural spaces and schemes of movement. Seeking to go beyond methods usually used by architects, Tschumi complements his work with photographs, montages, schemes and collages (combining axonometric projections, drawings, cut out photographs). He is intentionally unclear in his visual suggestions, allowing for multiple readings of his material.

The experiments in architectural notations in this book was revolutionary in the sense that it questioned the very essence of architectural design process and highlighted how important the representation of an idea was in giving rise to the outcomes in design.

Chapter 5: Evolving a Cinematic narrative process in architecture

The relationship between architecture and cinema is one of reciprocity- architecture is a spatial construction in which time is embedded, and cinema a temporal construction in which space is embedded. Space and time are inseparable and that is why the two fields overlap in so many ways. The major link between film and architecture is time. They are time sensitive mediums. In the same way that architecture articulates space, it also manipulates time. Re-structuring and articulating time - re-ordering, speeding up, slowing down, halting and reversing - is equally essential in cinematic expression. This overlap is essential to engage with their embedded dimensions of spatio-temporality. Architecture enlivens the spatial dimension of cinema and cinema enlivens the temporal dimension of architecture.

This dissertation concludes with an attempt to develop a process that imbibes the process of developing the cinematic narrative in architectural narrative, to create a synergy between the two fields.

1. Conceiving the story: In cinema: Once an idea is conceived, a story is generated keeping in mind the intents or nature of the idea. For example, in the film Memento, by Christopher Nolan, the story was a direct reflection of the protagonist. The protagonist suffers from anterograde amnesia, where his entire memory re-sets every fifteen minutes. To mimic this condition, the story itself is told backwards, the beginning of the first event is the end of the second event.

These repetitions of events launch the viewers ―repeatedly into Leonard‘s moment-tomoment existence by beginning again and again, as if it hasn‘t begun before. In this way, the movie emulates Leonard‘s own struggle to make sense of what‘s happening to and around him. Christopher Nolan elected the reverse structure with all these repetitions to confuse the audience and to put them in the head of the protagonist.

Fig 21: Graphic showing the segmented non-linear narrative structure of Memento that reflects the personal qualities of the character.

Cinematic input in architecture: Derive the nature of the story from idea based on the characters of the story. So are people characters in a story or the users who perceive the story? In narrative architecture, a pre-existing story (with characters) is told through spaces that is perceived by the users. Then, during development of design, the architect takes into account the characters of the story (which could be people or factors like context, light, etc, that are the main design parameters).

Here, it is important to make a distinction –people who are the characters of a film are different from people who view the film. But in architecture, the people who are characters of the narrative could very well BE the users of the space as well. This is where boundaries of perception are blurred. So narratives in architecture need to keep in mind that the people who are key characters of the narrative and the end users could be one and the same. Ultimately, when stories are derived from the context, the people who are to use the building itself, they become characters of their own story, of the very spaces they inhabit. They are both the story and the perceivers of the story.

In Architecture: An important component of the story is the community's sense of place, which can help us achieving what was stated above. It is a collection of qualities and characteristics that provide meaning to a location and that which is unique to an individual.

Our memory is place-specific since human experience and associated emotive memories are formed of and related to spaces. Emotional response is deeply rooted in place experience and place memory. Our life stories that traverse our significant urban paths, collective rituals, frequented spaces, are all evidences of individual and collective memory that captures ―the emotive place‖. Architecture needs to respond to this emotive place that contains within it the meaning associated with a place. Only then can it access the mental images generated in the viewer‘s minds which is a can be mapped as a story, thus becoming a part of the narrative. ―A functional building is not yet architecture- To become ‗architecture‘, the functional building needs to have both ‗atmosphere‘ and ‗meaning‘.‖ -Juhani Pallasmaa 2. Breakdown of narrative as spatial diagrams: In cinema: Once the intents of the narrative are formulated, the narrative is broken down as sequences and a spatial diagram of the plot structure is generated. Here, the sequences are structures, ordered, and continuity is established. The relationship between one

storyline to another is analyzed. Only when filmmakers do this can they plot important moments in the movie – moment of plot revelation, surprise, suspense, etc. (As seen earlier in 3.1.3)

Fig 22: Christopher Nolan's sketch of the narrative structure of Inception, showing distinct storylines, relationships between them, important turning points in the film, etc.

Cinematic input in architecture: Breakdown of narrative and plotting turning points in it, gives clarity to the entire story. It also helps us build up the story to spring those moments of surprise.

In Architecture: Architectural narratives can similarly be broken down into sequences (spaces/programs), which can then be structured as spatial diagrams with reference to the

narrative. Spatial adjacencies, relationships between them, treatment of starting and end points can be determined. We need to understand that architectural narratives always have multiple storylines within them- multiple people-multiple stories-multiple emotions.

Narratives should be focalized through all possible narratives so multiple interpretations can occur. It is also important to roughly identify points where one storyline meets the other. Theses make points of experiential encounters in the space which could transform the very dynamics of the space, as discussed below.

3. Mapping movement trajectories: In Cinema: Once the narrative structure is draw spatially, each sequence is detailed out to derive event trajectories. The entire sequence is broken down as events and the needs and spatial demands of every sequence are understood. By spatially mapping their sequences, we know how and when one sequence meets/intersects/joins/ another. Those moments of encounter add spark and meaning to the film as a whole.

Fig 23: Graphic showing detailed sequences in Memento and the turning point of the story where the two sequences meet. (by Greg Burney)

Cinematic input in architecture: Derive parameters of design solely from the events that happen in the individual sequences. Only then is the space a direct response to the people and their movements.

In Architecture: We need to map the movement trajectories of multiple individuals (storylines) who are likely to be a part of the story to understand their needs, possible encounters. Architecture and cinema function are distinct dynamic terrains that overlap to create a new spatial art. Only if we overcome the notion of architecture as a static, tectonic construct, can we think of space as one that responds to movement patterns. This means that we will have to reinvent (not just mark and reproduce) the trajectories of the inhabitants through space, like a film does. We need notational syntaxes for charting the course of the individual movements and hence, individual narratives. Rather than just being vectors and arrows, the movement notions have to embrace its relevance to events and be mobilized territories of individuals. Only then will architectural experiences- which involve the dynamics of space, time, movement and narrative- relate to and embody the effect of cinema.

While doing this one needs to keep in mind that users add their own interpretations to the existing narrative. We project our emotions, desires, and fears in buildings. Architecture not only reflects the emotions of the creator but also receives the emotions of the user.

When experiencing a work of art, we project ourselves onto the object of our experience.

Cinema and architecture, as all art, function as alluring projection screens for our emotions.

For example, we lend the protagonist of Vertigo his dizziness, and we place our own fear in the Bates House. The narrative, thus, needs to be interactive – it needs to be flexible enough to allow multiple interpretations. Spaces are now derived only after understanding these possibilities and not before.

4. Storyboarding the narrative: In Cinema: Films use storyboards to plan scenes in chronological order and to establish preliminary views of the narrative sequence. Storyboards are fast, linear sketches –

sequential mock ups of a scene to plan views, events, setting, angles, movement and dialogues of characters within the spatial extents of the frame. Time and movement are represented as explicit spatial elements in every frame. Creating montages of these frames stimulates rhythms and spatial transitions in the films.

Cinematic input in architecture: Instead of designing through plans and sections, which only allows for a frozen moment in time to be created, the benefit of the temporal aspect of film should be included to show movement through spaces. Frame by frame structuring of the sequences could be done to understand the spatio-temporality of the events.

Fig 24: Storyboard from the Life-scene in inception. Director: Chris Nolan, Artist: Gabriel Hardman

In Architecture: The graphic notation of a story board will encourage the sequential exploration of architectural space and events through their dialogue with time. Repeatedly structuring and re-imagining spatial perspectives over consecutive frames also identifies the significant elements and points of view that articulate space and events. This method could accommodate and effectively translate cultural and ethnographic values attached to any place through incorporating flashes of people‘s life stories and experiences. Time becomes a tangible factor that is now attached to frames and spaces. For example, an urban sketch of a city through story boarding would be a sensitive portrayal of the quality of space as remembered by locals – a compilation of their collective memory as a visual representation. The major difference between traditional modes of representation and this technique is the efficacy in capturing the emotive place through the added dimension of time. Time is a key factor in understanding the dynamics of a space through the perspective of the user. Over time a user would add his own life experiences to the architectural narrative inscribed by the architect onto the space. This would foster a relationship between the user and the space, building memories and meaningful places. ―Space without time is a picture.‖ - Olafur Eliasson The cinematic juxtaposition of images in architecture as the changing views obtained by movement through space over time is called the architectural promenade. A true architectural promenade constantly offers changing views, unexpected and surprising and changes perceptions of spatial inhabitation. Framed that capture moments where one storyline meets the other are very important in visually analyzing spaces of such encounters.

5. Deriving the form: In cinema: Once the frame by frame visualization of scenes is done, how one frame changes to another, that is, transition between scenes, is of vital importance. This is done using a variety of camera techniques – fade, jumpcuts, flashbacks, etc. This sets the tone for the entire film and defines how time is perceived while viewing it.

Cinematic input in architecture: Transition between spaces and spaces of transition are of vital importance in determining the way one space relates to another.

In Architecture: Spaces are derived from the juxtaposition of these frames. Plans, sections and axonometrics are drawn only after a thorough understanding of spatial experiences, and not before. Experiences are not fitted into plans, plans are fitted for experiences. The form of the building is similarly a product of the spatial experiences and contextual memories.

In conclusion, this step by step process ensures that the translation of idea into drawings incorporated values of human experiences and memories. It is not just a representation of what can be shown, but an amalgamation of architect's intents, people's experiences and most importantly, people's perceptions on viewing the space. When the way a idea is represented (translated) is changed, the final outcome changes as well. This dissertation hopes to have presented a process that might enable buildings to be more than just a backdrop of people's lives, and transcend to become the crux of their existence.

Chapter 6: Reflections and Conclusions: The architecture of today is fixated on the aesthetic of ‗the image‘, in which a project is created by producing a drawing or a render, failing to design anything that can be truly ‗experienced‘.

Designing architecture through the eyes of a director has a specific purpose, to design space through narrative structure and specifically address the inhabitation of the structure. The ‗experience‘ of the space comes from the events and the actions that occur within it, and whilst the architecture profession acknowledges this, its impact on the overall design is underwhelming.

-Daniel Keatly

This dissertation challenges the architectural profession to critically revise current notions of spatial thinking and representation of ideas and intents through the cross-disciplinary approaches that spatialize the idea of time and experience. One can explore and express the subjective ideas of one‘s mind by embracing the possibility of adopting a new language of architectural translation, taking cues from the ones we see in the cinematic field.

The dynamics of a film is merged with the spatiality of architecture to create a symbiosis between two fields that tries to change the way translation of thought from mind to paper occurs. This amalgamation also helps us reinvent the way we perceive an architectural or urban condition and its representation during the design process.

A different relationship can be forged between architecture and people based on sensory, social and temporal qualities of mental and physical space, as informed by films. There have been numerous experiments at incorporating the ideologies of cinema in designing architectural spaces. This dissertation is one such attempt.

Bibliography: Juhani Pallasmaa; Lived Space in Architecture and Cinema Steven Jacobs; The Wrong House: The Architecture of Alfred Hitchcock Architectural Research and Representation: Expressing Sense of Place through Storyboarding and Animatics.

Thomas Forget; The Construction of Drawings and Movies Diane Fellows; The Moving Image: Research + Design Process Torben Schmidt; Christopher Nolan‘s Memento – Analysis of the narrative structure of a noirish revenge film Hasan Okan Cetin; Fundamentals of architectural design In comparison to Filmmaking Dr Igea Troiani & Dr Tonia Carless; Architectural Design Research through Cinematic Collage http://flavorwire.com/349534/awesome-storyboards-from-15-of-your-favorite-films Pictures sourced from the Internet unless otherwise specified.