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Brown, James Benedict. "The Comic Architect: Words and pictures along the line between architecture and comics." Dissertation Master of Arch. University of Sheffield, 2007. 
Added by: joachim (7/20/09, 1:30 AM)   Last edited by: joachim (6/6/12, 10:01 AM)
Resource type: Thesis/Dissertation
Language: en: English
BibTeX citation key: Brown2007a
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Categories: General
Keywords: Architecture, Benjamin. Walter, City, Katchor. Ben, Netherlands, Swarte. Joost, USA, Ware. Chris
Creators: Brown
Publisher: University of Sheffield (Sheffield)
Views: 26/1597
Attachments   URLs   http://nowordsnoac ... itect_complete.pdf
Abstract
“If we, as architects, students and academics are already conscious of the elaborate media constructs of photography, journalism, criticism, exhibition, history, books, films, television and critical theory, why are comic strips, cartoons and sequential art not considered as valid media for the presentation and discussion of the built environment?
The depiction of architecture (normally at that brief moment between the completion of construction and the occupation of the building’s tenants) through images of frozen moments that are touched by neither occupation nor time denies both the participation of the user and the process by which the building was designed. It denies both the presence and the participation of an ‘other’, elevates architecture from its purposeful role to the realms of aesthetics or even high art, and excludes those who will ultimately use the building. Judging and appreciating buildings, space and place solely by the appearance of their two dimensional representations blurs the line between the nature of the building and the nature of the representation, negating and eliminating both narrative and time.
Comics, comix and graphic novels, however, have three potential advantages over traditional architectural photography. Firstly, sequential strip cartoons almost always feature a narrative element, thereby introducing a notion of time to the images. Crucially, it is not just the sequence of picture frames that mediate the passage of time, but also the space and time between the frames. Secondly, comics are unique as a representative medium, since they allow the reader to control and interpret the pace at which the narrative is experienced. And thirdly, since they are created with the entirely individual style and personality of the artist’s hand, they cannot be read without an appreciation of the artist’s interpretation. It is impossible to read a comic strip without encountering the nuances and style of the artist. So do comic strips offer a more sophisticated way of looking at, discussing and designing architecture? And can the particular narrative structure found in comics help these architectural processes?” (S. 9 f.)

Table of Contents

Foreword (4)
An observation (8)

Part one: the comic architect (12)
A brief history (13)
Chris Ware: Building Stories and building storeys (20)
Joost Swarte and the Haarlem Toneelschuur (29)

Part two: the comic urbanist (40)
Walter Benjamin: the flâneur of Paris (41)
Ben Katchor: the flâneur of Manhattan (42)
A conclusion (50)

Appendices (52)
Appendix I: Interview with Joost Swarte (53)
Appendix II: Interview with Henk Döll (78)
Appendix III: Interview with Ben Katchor (96)
Bibliography (118)
Images (120)
Added by: joachim  Last edited by: joachim
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