The Laboratory of Literary Architecture

Architectural and structural metaphors are often used to describe literary texts. "Constructing a text", accurately suggests the laborious effort of organizing the sequential structure of a plot or, more simply, of placing one word next to another. The chapter talks about literary structure, emotions and feelings, and about how the authors can translate all this into proportions, light, darkness, solids and voids. It discusses spatial relationships, repetition, reflection, sequence, transparency, tension, pacing, chronology and so forth. The participants were a motley crew of students and scholars in Cultural and Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Architecture as well as practicing architects and writers; with some of them wearing several of these hats at the same time. The surprising results from that very first, almost-improvised class led the authors to create the Laboratory of Literary Architecture, a workshop and pedagogical methodology of exploring narrative through the means of architectural space and design.