“Architecture is embedded storytelling,” wrote Marco Frascari. Emphasizing the reciprocity between architecture and narrative throughout his career, this Italian architect, theorist, and educator saw stories as the key to creating a “nontrivial”—and therefore transcendent—architecture. It is from his ideas, writings, teachings, and studies that the reflection inspiring this text arises.
In the book Confabulations: Storytelling in Architecture, Virginia Tech architect and professor Paul Emmons asserts that “storytelling is the native language of our imagination, and a well-told story can skillfully integrate technical, cultural, and aesthetic thinking.” As humans, we tell stories every day of our lives. The reasons are as numerous as they are varied: to share anecdotes, to remember events, to teach, to imagine. Storytelling has been present since the dawn of human civilization; even the most primitive societies invented tales for recreation and to pass down knowledge, which was a key factor in the development of our species. As Roland Barthes wrote: “Narrative is present in every age, in every place, in every society; it begins with the very history of mankind.”
