FOMAspace: the agency of harmless untruths in the sitesphere

The thesis is an architectural fiction. Precedents include Bernard Tschumi's The Manhattan Transcripts, and Keller Easterling's Some True Stories. The thesis in this context challenges the reality of reality in architectural convention. Tschumi writes, "Architecture is not simply about space and form, but also about event, action, and what happens in space." I'd argue that it is also about what has never (yet) happened in space. Weaving fiction into documentary creates in its audience a moment of uncertainty in which re-evaluation of the most basic assumptions is necessary. A palpable tension between value and action arises.

The thesis questions the use of the true as a basis for architectural endeavor and the creation of space, atmosphere, and program. Interestingly, the discipline takes particular note of the misappropriation of planned space. This unforeseen, unplanned, and perhaps undesirable action/dialogue is mostly one-sided; in these cases a project is completed before it can be misused. Yet, instead of planning for the (numerous) futures and uses/misuses of a project, what if one preemptively lied by intentionally misreading the whats, hows, and even wheres of a site? What is the agency of a skewed perspective toward the augmentation of our understanding; what opportunities arise in a lie?

The thesis will explore the current fictional methods of architectural representation and justification. The discipline is currently operating through the use of 'impartial data,' 'universal nomenclature,' ‘progress,' 'non-authorship,' and ownership. These in themselves could be considered fictions in their own right. By calling these out as necessary fictions, and therefore paradigmatic, we can begin to ­­unpack how they shape the discourse.

The thesis is intended to culminate in a compendium of forays into the untrue. The compendium will consist of drawings, mis-representations, material investigations, truth-meters, and perhaps find its way into the shape of an installation or small pavilion.