The city as a textile of stories

This research explores the interrelationship between collective memory, spatial identity, stories and architecture within the City. It aims to investigate how narrative informs understanding of context and authenticates contemporary place-making. It postulates that Place be considered as a constellation of stories, which map its past, re-imagining and re-telling narratives to reveal potential futures and a rich textile of reading place. The working methods comprise research through making and employ mapping, modelling and drawing as methods to reveal spatial attributes and layers of meaning in place. Different layers of history, stories and their interrelationships result in the particularities of a specified City or Location. Theorising this information requires architects to broaden their understanding of context through the consideration of tangible and intangible characteristics in order to place-make, in other words to consider the City as a textile of stories - fictional, historical, factual and biographical. We consider ourselves physical novelists weaving together past, present and future.This research shares our explorations of an Island City of stories. The City itself encompasses different layers of history, narratives and their interrelationships all of which result in the current urban composition and cultural identity. It aims to investigate how narrative informs understanding of context and authentic contemporary place-making within the only island city in the UK. This City case study constituted a navigating point influenced by cultures across the globe. The city’s density is another challenge, which also identify it as an appropriate case study. Consequently, the City will be considered as a constellation of stories, which map its past and reveal potential improvements to city function and reveal opportunities. Layering the archaeologies and drawing out a palimpsest of spatial meanings, our practice is active and comprises drawing and making. We have discovered a series of methods, finding ways to co-work and co-produce. More recently we have been working with the digital as much as physical - but we always start with physical drawing, mapping and collecting. The most exciting development was how the construction and transformation - collaging and overlaying ideas, photographing and re-compiling images and light box layers, lead to a series of surprising outputs. Touching the realms of and interlinking many subject areas - architecture, cartography, fictional writing, archaeology and explorative arts practice. This paper develops a cross-disciplinary approach to understanding and responding to the spatial quality of the city. A literature review will form a foundation of critique on narrative through which the city will be reviewed. Historic maps of the city will be analysed, and fictional and non-fictional stories will be gathered in order to expose the city layers and interpretations. On-site analysis will be carried out to further consolidate this information. This will facilitate the establishment of a new framework that enhances the city’s spatial qualities and everyday functions. This paper’s output could also enrich the city’s development strategies.