The Tale of Tall Fūrr: A re-enchantment of the architectural process and how a fictional tale can be used to influence and lead an architectural design

Abstract

100 years ago, sociologist Max Weber claimed that our modern society has undergone a process of disenchantment - scientific and technical understanding has become more highly valued than belief in the mythical, mystical and magical. In this modern society, nature seems to have become knowable and manipulable, reduced to an object of consumption. This thesis applies Weber’s disenchantment theory to an architectural context, and tries to recover enchantment through the architectural process. The thesis begins with extensive literary readings as well as an early site analysis, spending time on the chosen project site with focus on the natural environment and engaging the imagination. During and after site analysis, a fictional tale is developed, connecting strongly to the characteristics of the site found during analysis. The main exploration of this thesis thus lies in using a fictional tale to find the story and narrative of the site. Through the fictional tale, the site narrative is then translated into a built design, connecting the architecture to the site by the means of enchantment. Through studies of two architectural projects by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, a set of design strategies and tools for reenchantment are defined. These strategies and tools deal with telling a narrative and a story through a built design. The architectural addition to the thesis´ site is a single-family dwelling, which is used as a platform to try out the defined design strategies and tools. By working with them to tell the site narrative with the architecture, the fictional tale makes its way into the built environment. The visual representation of the reenchanted architecture is also explored, and model working in scale 1:1 is done to test some of the design tools. The thesis lands in a discussion about what possibilities architecture holds for a re-enchantment of our modern society and the creative abilities the architect has to work with strong narratives. By bringing back the magical and mythical through storytelling architecture and its surrounding environment, the architect could help recovering enchantment into our disenchanted world.