Architecture is certainly pragmatic, but it can also be denunciatory, fanciful, celebratory, or fantastical. Fiction can enrich an architectural project at all stages. First, the use of a scenario helps to conceptualize the context of a given project: by drawing from and departing from reality, the fictional narrative reconfigures the characteristics of the initial situation and, in doing so, brings new foundations to the architectural proposition. Within our design practice, this narrative resembles a fictional projection grounded in a form of reality, enabling the materialization and composition of a reflective concept.
Fiction can also materialize through a medium of architectural representation: the model as a visual support for the architectural narrative, the architectural plan as a storyboard, or the scenario as a theoretical reflection. The use of fiction implies a practice that oscillates between the act of representing and conceptualizing an imagined reality. It is an approach rooted in the political, social, and constructive context of society. Through architecture, we question its codes, sometimes diverting them to extract material for thought. This article delves into these three key mediums of fiction in architecture to decipher their mechanisms.