Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Articles

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2022)

Spatialising time: Perceiving multiple layers of time in narrative environment

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7454/arsnet.v2i2.19
Published
2022-10-31
Article downloads
314
Submitted
2022-03-01
Accepted
2022-04-24

Abstract

There is no escape from time. That includes architecture which dominantly discusses space. This paper aims to explore how people can experience time spatially. Notably, this study looks at the context of the narrative environment where stories are imbued in space to enhance their engagement with the audience. Time in a narrative is presented through the narrated time and the real-world time where the audience of the narrative perceive it. Both types of time can be overlapped, whether the audience is consciously aware of that or not. Time is integrated into a narrative through order, plot, pace, and duration. All these four aspects are experienced by the visitor of a narrative environment to connect events and make sense of their journey and the whole story. The relationship between events experienced through time creates a spatial trajectory. Two case studies were conducted to explore this idea: a visit to Museum Kebangkitan Nasional and participation in Secret Cinema. It is found that time can be spatialised through the explicit transition of graphics, a play of lighting, and overall spatial organisation.

References

  1. Abbott, H. P. (2021). The Cambridge introduction to narrative (3rd edition). Cambridge University Press.

  2. Atmodiwirjo, P., & Yatmo, Y. A. (2021). Animated interior. Interiority, 4(2), 135–138. https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v4i2.176

  3. Austin, T. (2020). Narrative environments and experience design: Space as a medium of communication. Routledge.

  4. Bodenhamer, D. J. (2015). Narrating space and place. In D. J. Bodenhamer, J. Corrigan, & T. M. Harris (Eds.), Deep maps and spatial narratives (pp. 7–27). Indiana University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1zxxzr2.5

  5. Coates, N. (Ed.). (2012). Narrative architecture. Wiley.

  6. de Certeau, M. (1984). The practice of everyday life (S. Rendall, Trans.; 3rd ed.). Univ. of California Press.

  7. Dibell, A. (1988). Plot. Writer’s Digest Books.

  8. Doloughan, F. (2015). The construction of space in contemporary narrative. Journal of Narrative Theory, 45(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1353/jnt.2015.0005

  9. Dowling, W. C. (2011). Ricoeur on time and narrative: An introduction to temps et récit. University of Notre Dame Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvpj7gg4

  10. Francis, D. (2015). An arena where meaning and identity are debated and contested on a global scale: Narrative discourses in British Museum exhibitions, 1972–2013. Curator: The Museum Journal, 58(1), 41–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.12097

  11. Franck, K. A. (2016). Designing with time in mind. Architectural Design, 86(1), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.1996

  12. Galusha, S. (2015, July 18). Fabien Riggall talks Star Wars Secret Cinema. Star Wars. https://www.starwars.com/news/secret-cinema-makes-star-wars-more-powerful-than-you-can-possibly-imagine

  13. Genette, G. (1990). Narrative discourse: An essay in method. Cornell University Press.

  14. Greenberg, S. (2012). Place, time and memory. In S. Macleod, L. Hourston Hanks, & J. Hale (Eds.), Museum making: Narratives, architectures, exhibitions (pp. 95–104). Routledge.

  15. Hale, J., & Back, C. (2018). From body to body: Architecture, movement and meaning in the museum. In S. MacLeod, T. Austin, J. Hale, & O. H. Hing-Kay (Eds.), The Future of Museum and Gallery Design: Purpose, Process, Perception (pp. 340–351). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

  16. Hanks, L. H. (2015). Narrative, story, and discourse: The Novium, Chichester. Curator: The Museum Journal, 58(1), 27–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/cura.12096

  17. Levinson, J. (2015). Time and time again: Temporality, narrativity, and spectatorship in Christian Marclay’s The Clock. Cinema Journal, 54(3), 88–109. https://doi.org/10.1353/cj.2015.0030

  18. Leatherbarrow, D. (2017). Building remember. In P. Emmons, M. Feuerstein, C. Dayer, & L. Phinney (Eds.), Confabulations: Storytelling in architecture (pp. 55–63). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

  19. Lu, F. (2017). Museum architecture as spatial storytelling of historical time: Manifesting a primary example of Jewish space in Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 6(4), 442–455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2017.08.002

  20. Museum Kebangkitan Nasional. (n.d.). Sejarah Museum Kebangkitan Nasional. Museum Kebangkitan Nasional. Retrieved 16 July 2021, from https://muskitnas.net/sejarah-museum-kebangkitan-nasional/

  21. Pallasmaa, J. (2016). Inhabiting time. Architectural Design, 86(1), 50–59. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.2001

  22. Paramita, K. D., & Schneider, T. (2018). Passage territories: Reframing living spaces in contested contexts. Interiority, 1(2), 113–129. https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v1i2.34

  23. Parsons, A. (2009). Narrative environments: How do they matter? Rhizomes, 19. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1784969

  24. Potteiger, M., & Purinton, J. (1998). Landscape narratives: Design practices for telling stories. J. Wiley.

  25. Psarra, S. (2009). Architecture and narrative: The formation of space and cultural meaning. Routledge.

  26. Ryan, M.-L., Foote, K. E., & Azaryahu, M. (2016). Narrating space/spatializing narrative: Where narrative theory and geography meet. The Ohio State University Press.

  27. Rosser, M. (2015a). Secret Cinema audience tops 100,000 as ‘Empire Strikes Back’ event wraps. Screen Daily. https://www.screendaily.com/news/secret-cinema-audience-tops-100000-as-empire-strikes-back-event-wraps/5094687.article

  28. Rosser, M. (2015b). Secret Cinema: ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, REVIEW. Screen Daily. https://www.screendaily.com/news/secret-cinema-the-empire-strikes-back-review/5089352.article

  29. Secret Cinema. (2021). The experience. Secret Cinema. https://www.secretcinema.org/the-experience

  30. Till, J. (1996). Architecture in space, time. In C. Melhuish (Ed.), Architectural design: Architecture and anthropology (pp. 12–16). Academy Press.

  31. Till, J. (2013). Architecture depends. MIT Press. 

  32. Uysal, V. Ş., & Aridağ, L. (2012). ‘Perform-Box’: Towards an architecture-of-time. Performance Research, 17(5), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2012.728452

  33. Warakanyaka, A. A. S., & Yatmo, Y. A. (2018). Understanding the importance of time in interior architectural design method. SHS Web of Conferences, 41, 04009. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20184104009

  34. Wickerson, E. (2017). The architecture of narrative time: Thomas Mann and the problems of modern narrative. Oxford University Press.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.