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 poeties 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 einematie 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 distinetion is made between the story and the narrative. Story is the content or fabula, and narrative the form or syuzhet, ie., the way in which a story is structured and presented, © ‘The syuzhet can jugele 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 fiame- 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.”cera compost font om 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 grams: 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 macro- structures 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 (prineipal 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 distinet 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 hither 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 charaeter. 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 Bambii’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 Narrative: 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 Conceptual elements Narrative (primary elements of design) Physical elements Mise - en scene (real conditions for final appearance) Relational elements Montage/ Editing (organaizational elements) Fig 1: 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 isin 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 prediet 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?