GRAPHIC NOVEL AND

JEAN NOUVEL

Shravan Vaidyanath 13001894

Research Philosophy for Design P30026
Literature Review

GRAPHIC NOVEL AND JEAN NOUVEL

Introduction
Architecture exists in two worldsin the real
world as built projects and in a conal world
as paper architecture. Architecture is wrien
through dierent mediums such as literature,
lm, science con, comic books and as an
autobiography of personal experiences. Wring
architecture through other media is an inter-disciplinary research method. It is disnguished from
scienc or arsc research in that it could be
generave or proposional in nature, rather than
as a means to nd a soluon to a pre-determined
problem (Rendell, 2004, p146). It is an important
part of the process of architectural design termed
by Donald Schon (1984, p5) as reecon-inaconthe act of describing a situaon through
other mediums serves as a means of crical
evaluaon, allowing one to see new informaon.
Architect and writer, Kester Raenbury (2002,
p21-24) considers the pracce of treang unbuilt, imaginary designs as architecture is essenal to the design process as taught in the western
world. As a work of architectural con, it is able
to retain certain characteriscs such as its idealisc or utopian qualies that might be lost during
its translaon into a built work (Raenbury,2002
p21-24). Paper architecture through its ability to
portray a strong architectural vision can be as inuenal as architecture itself (Raenbury, 2002,
p21-24). This literature review is focused on the
graphic novel, as used by Architect Jean Nouvel,
as a medium of inter-discplinary research.
As documented by Melanie van der Hoorn in
her book Bricks and Balloons: architecture in
strip form (2012), graphic novels have been used
by a number architects as a means of research,
communicaon and architectural con. While
it is obvious that the medium of the comic strip

is structured in a linear fashion, its use as an

architectural research methodology isnt necessarily limited to the development of sequenal
narraves. Through its informality and directness of communicaon, it becomes a medium
that liberates architecture from the limitaon
of tradional architectural representaons
(Hoorn,2012, p12).
In an exhibion at the Louisiana Museum in
Denmark, Nouvel presented three of his projects in comic strip formthe proposal for an
urban park in Les Halle, the waterfront development of Valencia, and the Alcantara Mar Housing in Lisbon. All three projects as yet remain
unbuilt. The comics were presented under the
tle Dreams for the City.(Hoorn, 2012,p51)
Given that the comics were commissioned aer
his design proposal, what does he look to learn
from envisioning them through a dierent media? Does it maer that the comics was drawn
by other cartoonists rather than by Nouvel
himself?

Nouvel and Inter-displinarity

The comic strip has a long history within the discipline of architecture as the preferred form of
communicaon for architectural counter-culture
as seen in its use by archigram, superstudio,
archizoom, Rem Koolhaas (Coates, 2012, p40).
Narrave illustraon itself has undergone a period of cultural transion from being perceived
as an underground medium for slapsck or
superheroes in comic books and magazines to a
more serious and mainstream medium of book
length graphic novel, now included in recommended reading lists and exisng as a medium
in itself (Bell and Sinclair, 2005,p4). While earlier
use of comics in architecture could be seen as

provocave, it is much more established within

mainstream contemporary pracce.
Nouvel (1997,p54) views todays posion of
architecture as disnct from previously established theories. He states that the aesthec
interplay of forms amuses no one. As in the
statement below, he ascribes to an inter-disciplinary as a means of capturing the intangible
elements of contemporary culture
We need other intellectual means, a requesoning of outdated cultural models. Architecture cannot be treated anymore as an
autonomous discipline that would funcon
on materials, techniques or recognized types,
obeying rules that could be declined or confronted. Today all that has exploded, there
are no more recipes. The architect must rst
of all make a diagnosis, steeping himself in
parameters external to his discipline in its
strict sense (Chaslin, 1998, p18)
Nouvel has a long standing relaonship with
theater director Jacques le Marquet, cric Olivier Bossiere and architect Hubert Tonka (Morgan
and Nouvel, 1998). He consults with them in
the early stages of his projects in order to develop a sensivity towards the site, to explore
dierent approaches but he maintains that he
always makes a choice based on his personal
imaginaon of the issues discussed (Morgan
and Nouvel, 1998). His use of the comic strip for
redrawing his own designs is surprising for two
reasons- that the comics wasnt used earlier in
the design process, and due to his statement
that he is less interested in paper architecture
than in seeing his projects built. (Casciani and
Nouvel, 2010, p36)

Fig 1: Valencia Litoral comic from the Louisiana Manifesto Exhibion

Fictional urbanism
The rst project under review here is a master
plan scheme for the waterfront development
of Valencia. The cartoons were penned by then
students, Francois Henninger, Tony Neveux and
Florian Teyssie (Hoorn, 2012 p165). The comic is
superimposed onto a site plan making a direct
correlaon between the images and their locaon in reality.
Nouvel, in reality, views large urban projects as
best pursued through a principle of modicaon and reecon, keeping the strategy and the
intent exible.(Chaslin, 1998, p18).
A city has to move a bit at a me that is by
iteraon, by alteraon, by substuon or by
revelaon (Casciani, Nouvel, 2010, p37)
The comics for Valencia Litoral present a dream
where Nouvel, the protagonist of the story, wakes
up late for a meeng and then rushes from the
centre of the city towards the coast commenting on his percepons of the context and the

proposal. There is a strong sequenal quality to

the comics. Nouvel is seen interacng with the
people who are part of the landscape, joining a
crowd in a procession along the way. The structure here becomes a reference to the intent
of the masterplan to integrate the sporadic
urban development of Valencia. In establishing
a conal story and a protagonist, it combines
words with images somemes to add a subjecve dimension to evaluate works of architecture, to arculate cricism about the concepts
and ideas behind buildings (Hoorn, 2012, p26).
It also presents architectural theory in a form
that is more accessible to the public and by
establishing a dialogue includes the users views
as a part of the design process. (Madrilenian
Andres Jacques in Hoorn, 2012,p10)
It is o!en the case that architects present their
projects in a raonal manner, going from the
condions and the needs of the brief to their
response to the quesons that are asked of
them (Hoorn, 2012, p165). Architect and lmmaker Jord den Hollander (in Hoorn, 2012,

p165) considers presenng an architectural

project through a personal narrave as speaking at a more emoonal level. He proposes that
architects should work more like arsts and
lm maker who primary concern is about communicang their feelings toward a story. He (in
Hoorn,2012, p165) believes that this approach
has the potenal to make architecture much
looser, more intriguing and unpredictable.
Nouvel, in the end of the comic, is seen throwing a bo"le into the sea, a metaphor that he
does not wish to impose his views onto the city
but to wait unl someone picks up the idea
or unl the project begins to lead a life of its
own (Hoorn, 2012, p169). This metaphor is the
cartoonists interpretaon of Nouvels view of
urbanism and is intended to remind the readers that they were looking at a conal project
than a realized one (Hoorn. 2012, p169). This
comic serves to get a crique of Nouvels work
from the point of view of a cartoonist rather
than to communicate the scheme through his
personal narrave.

Fig 2: Site map of the proposal; FIg 3: Aerial view of the proposal for Valencia; Fig 4 (below): Overview of the proposal for Les Halles, Paris

People and Landscape

The second set of comics exhibited by Nouvel
at the Louisiana Museum was a rendering of his
proposal for a public park and shopping centre
for a site in Les Halles in the centre of Paris. The
site had long been a dicult problem for urban
planners beginning in 1972 with the decision of
then President Charles de Gaulle to replace the
covered food markets that had occupied the site
for a century (Redecke, 2005, p78; Sowa, 2004,
p56). It was an aempt to modernize the urban
fabric between the Communies Exchange and
the Saint Eustache Church that would portray a
mobile centre (Redecke, 2005, p79). This was met
with protests from the public but the markets
were removed nevertheless (Redecke, 2005, p79).
With the cast iron and glass structures removed,
the excavated site was occupied by infrastructure
composed of RER, Metro staon and four levels
of underground shopping centre. The site was
referred to by the public pejoravely as the big
hole(Redecke, 2005, p79). Later proposals from
President Georges Pompidou for an internaonal

Fig 5 (le): Architectural rendering for

the urban landscape proposed for Les
Halles
Fig 6 (above): Rendering of the underground shopping levels
Fig 7 (right): Cartoon by Tanino Liberatore exhibited at the Louisiana
Museum

trade centre and his successor Valery Giscard

dEstaings call for a housing development was
met with protests (Redecke, 2005, p80). Under
the term of the mayor Jacques Chirac, it was
earmarked to become an urban park (Redecke,
2005, p80).
Nouvels proposal of 2003 was a response to
a compeon brief that called for an integraon of the new urban park with the confusing
labyrinth of circulaon spaces underground to
establish a connecon with the shopping centre
(Redecke,2005, p82). It proposed a raised arcial landscape supported by a forest of concrete columns at the height of the eaves of the
neighbouring buildings (Redecke, 2005, p82).
Nouvel had lile if any direct inuence on cartoonist Tanino Liberatores fresco (Hoorn, 2012,
p51). Agreeing with Nouvel that there would be
no point in producing a faithful reproducon of
the original, the arst took the liberty to form
his own interpretaon of the proposed scheme
(Hoorn, 2012, p51). The use of the graphic novel

is also seen as freeing architectural representaon from the tradional modes of representaon using plans and secons. Being seen as an
informal way of communicaon, it isnt necessary to maintain strict proporonal relaons
between the proposed architecture and the
other elements such as the landscape and the
people in the scene.
The medium is used here to give a more poec
quality to the drawings allowing the message
of the architect and the design intent to be
conveyed much more eecvely. Viewing Nouvels work as public and open, Liberatores
graphic gives more emphasis to the people
inhabing the space. Liberatore (Hoorn, 2012,
p51) decribes the exercise as having resulted
in a feeling much more than a real building. In
this process, the forest of columns is removed
and the landscape is shown as oang in air.
The use of false perspecve modifying the relaonship in proporon between the people and
the buildings is a result of the sensibility of the
cartoonist in an aempt to give the drawings a

sense of narrave (Hoorn, 2012, p51).

The drawings that formed the original proposal
was not accompanied by comics or other forms of
inter-disciplinary research. The comics were commissioned specically for the Louisiana Exhibion
two years later (Hoorn, 2012, p51). It is hence
used as a method for reecng on earlier proposals, possibly as a means to inform a future project. The choice of the medium could have been
a response to the original architectural drawings
being termed as freakish(Redecke,2005). Given
the history of planning problems of this site and
the views of the public on the various proposals, it is necessary to make sure that the design
is conveyed eecvely through an appropriate
medium of illustraon. The comics hence serve
a dual purposeas a study on urban planning
visualizaons and how to bring together dierent scales: the big city and the human dimension.
(Hoorn, 2012, p51)

FIg 8: Narrave illustraon by Xavier Lowenthal for the Alcantara Housing in Lisbon, exhibited at the Louisiana Museum

Atmosphere
Melanie Van der Hoorn (2012, p 212) describes
as an important aspect of narrave illustraon
as bringing words and images closer together.
There is however another style called silent
narraves where the story is conveyed purely
through images (Bell and Sinclair, 2005, p4).
Silent narraves, used since ancient mes, have
a stronger sequenal quality to them although
they do allow for individual imaginaons and
interpretaons of the story that is presented
(Bell and Sinclair, 2005, p4).
The third project of Nouvels projects where we
see the use of the graphic novel is the Alcantara
Mar housing project in Lisbon. Drawn through a
collaboraon with cartoonist Xavier Lowenthal,
it was an aempt to study the atmosphere of
the context (Hoorn, 2012, p171). His proposal is
composed of four perimeter blocks. The resulting courtyards were characterized as Coconut
Palm, Parasol, Fountain and White plazas
(Hoorn,2012, p171). The comic became a means

of exploring ways to integrate the proposal with

the context by emphasizing the strong contrast between plants and minerals, the old city
and the new, dark and light, warm and cold
(Hoorn,2012, p171).
Nouvel (1997, p52-63) perceives a strained
relaonship between architects and the general public. Architectural theory, developed
under the assumpon of architecture as an
autonomous discipline, is inaccessible to
non-architects, thereby marginalizing role of
architects and architecture alike (Nouvel, 1997
p52-63). Nouvel (1997, p52-63) states that an
architect needs to choose the content of his
architecture, not from the tradional perspecves of history, mythology or religion, but from
what is felt by its inhabitants. This can only be
done so by looking towards other mediums
of communicaon, to draw on personal and
cultural projecon of architecture as a starng
point for imagining the stories that architecture
can communicate (Nouvel, 1997, p52-63). The
proposal here is hence re-imagined from the

point of view of a man and a woman who travel

through the neighbourhood and meet in one
of the courtyards. The background is formed
by anecdote showing scenes from everyday
life. The story is communicated purely through
images. Silent narraves precisely with this lack
of copy, serve to destabilize any linear sense of
me and space giving a spooky atmoshpere to
the drawings. (Bell, Sinclair, 2005,p65)
The comic again acts as a medium that is able
to communicate far more about the use of
the spaces than a convenonal architectural
drawing. The arst explains that his intenon was to convey the sensuality of bodies
through free hand lines (Hoorn,2012,p171).
This is something he believes that is dicult
to explore tradional architectural drawing
which he terms as cold (Hoorn,2012,p171).
He explains that the illustraon also becomes a
study of light as the colours in reality in Portugal are strikingly intense due to the bright
light(Hoorn,2012,p171).

FIg 9: Enlarged secon of the comics

Conclusion
Terri Whitehead (2005, p68) in reviewing the
comics at the exhibion as entertaining but
oering lile understanding of Nouvels working
methods. The fact that these illustraons were
done post the inial proposals (Hoorn, 2012,
p51) shows its use as a medium for reecve
crique rather than generaon. It is clear that
in all three projects, the comics were used to
reect on the interacon between people and
his proposals. The comic serve as a study of
urbanism rather than the internal workings of
an individual piece of architecture. Although
the illustraons for the Valencia Litoral and the
Alcantara Mar Housing have narraves, the
ordering of spaces themselves do not form part
of a sequenal elaboraon of a story. They are
instead used to explore the dierences in the
character and atmosphere of dierent parts
of an urban realm. The rendering of spaces in
comic form aempts to show his proposals in
a poec light. This is something that tradional
architectural drawings are unable to capture.

By commissioning others to pen the illustraon,

it is clear that the graphic novel isnt used to develop personal narraves. The arsts have been
give full freedom to make their own interpretaon of Nouvels proposals (Hoorn, 2012, p51,
171, 159). Although Nouvel works consistently
collaborates with Le Marquet, Boissiere and
Tonka regularly, they are considered as consultants rather than co-designers (Morgan and
Nouvel, 1998, p178-180). They act as advisers
who give their input on specic aspects of the
design (Morgan and Nouvel, 1998, p178-180).
The comic arsts ll a similar role acng as
specialists who bring their interpretaons of the
interacon between Nouvels designs and the
acvies and narraves that could ll the space.
The interpretaons become part of a number of
inter-related aspects that Nouvel then processes into an architectural concept.
The comics do not aempt to create a conal
architecture but rather explore plausible proposals from a plurality of viewpoint, aiming to
explore the views of a proposal by non-archi-

tects. While there is lile evidence of Nouvel

directly using the results of the research from
these illustraons in any subsequent project,
it does show the graphic novel as a means for
tesng proposals against their ability to sustain
narraves and engaging with non-architects.
Given that the comics were part of urban projects which usually develop over a number of
years, it is possible that the intenon was to use
this informaon at a later stage. But for whatever reasons, most likely the state of the economy
in Europe, it is unfortunate that the projects
havent made any progress since the exhibion.

Illustrations
Fig 1: Available online at Typotony, hp://www.
typotony.com/illustraon/valencia-litoral-murde-6x13m-pour-les-ateliers-jean-nouvel-lors-dela-retrospecve-au-louisiana-museum-realiseavec-francois-henninger-et-orian-teyssie/,
Accessed on 04 Nov 2013.
Fig 2: Available online from Nmada, blog
de Juan Freire, hp://nomada.blogs.com/
jfreire/2005/05/valencia_litora.html
Accessed on 04 nov 2013
Fig 3: Available online from Nmada, blog
de Juan Freire, hp://nomada.blogs.com/
jfreire/2005/05/valencia_litora.html
Accesses on 04 nov 2013
Fig 4: Sowa, Axel (2004). Paris-Les Halles ou
comment donner du coeur au ventre, Architecture daujourdhui, n.352, p.56-59.
Fig 5: Atelier Jean Nouvel, Michel Desvignes
(paysagiste) et Nicolas Michelin (architecte),
Architecture daujourdhui, n.352, p.70
Fig 6: Atelier Jean Nouvel, Michel Desvignes
(paysagiste) et Nicolas Michelin (architecte),
Architecture daujourdhui, n.352, p.70
Fig 7: Hoorn, Melanie van der. (2012). Brick and
Balloons: architecture in comic strip form. Rotterdam: 010 publishers
Fig 8: Available online from Ilmanouch at hp://
www.ilanmanouach.com/porolio/louisianamanifesto, Accessed on 04 Nov 2013
Fig 9:Available online at 5c, hp://www.5c.be/
annales.php?news_id=28&, Accessed on 04 Nov
2013

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