Exploring the Concept of Architectural Fiction

Through team-based design charettes in our studio class, the general intended theme of architectural fiction has become clearer while the actual architectural outcome has grown more difficult to grasp. During the charette exercise we explored the following “what-if” scenarios for the future:

Urban: What if Brisbane introduced a congestion fee for entering the CBD, which in turn greatly reduced vehicle traffic?

Suburban: What if all retail stores shifted to online shopping but kept their physical properties to create new forms of retail experience?

Regional: What if the Woodford folk festival site became the home of a self-sufficient community? 

Virtual: What if the Queensland government decided to tackle their issues through virtual means?

Our group found that the urban scenario was the easiest to provide basic solutions for as it is the most realistic concept of the four, and is therefore most easily imagined. It also seems to more directly address architectural issues as new building designs would need to compensate for the large shift in vehicular to pedestrian access. The virtual scenario proved the most difficult in an architectural sense, as it was easy to envision future virtual concepts due to endless sci-fi movies, though none of us could successfully produce an idea that was directly related to architectural work. Although it was the most difficult, it was the most intriguing as it requires the most unconventional thinking, which is lacking in the majority of design efforts today.

After being informed that our final assignment and concept doesn’t necessarily have to be a building design, I (along with many others) was perplexed at the thought of our final design assignment having the potential to be a mere flowchart or sci-fi-esque movie. Because of my lack of confidence in producing such an extraordinary concept that I can avoid designing a building, I chose ‘urban’ as my tutorial theme as it will hopefully prove to be the most directly related to architectural design. However, I do know that I’ll need to extend past my comfort zone of traditional architecture to succeed in producing a unique design and concept for this unprecedented semester.