"The rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy's wing"

The second part of our project was revealed to us this week. Our task in relation to the title ' Narrative Spaces', was to select a book/ fairytale/poem , for which to base our conceptual design of the project on. We are going to explore how the written or spoken word can inform architectural space, and how the space can enhance the experience for the listener. Based not only on the fact that I have three copies of this book, 'the Great Gatsby', has been one of my favourite books ever since I studied it for A-level 3 years ago. The book is a beautifully written tragedy, Gatsby, the romantic hero pining for the lost love of his past. I love the poetic rhythm in which the book is narrated, as well as Fitzgerald's vivid descriptions of the decadence of the roaring 1920s in Jazz Age America. 

With this end mind, we have been asked to design an intimate space in which the story of our chosen book can be read to a few people, referring to narratives or symbolism in the text. My first brain storming ideas lead to me drawing illustrations of people from the 1920s. I guess this was more of just a fun drawing activity, but these got me thinking about the way people inhabit space and who the storyteller in my design will be, and I will include them as the contextual people in my later work. I used pen to draw out the outline, and coloured them in using black ink. I then scanned the images into photoshop and adding the skin and furniture colour. This is the first time I've ever drawn anything like this and it came as quite as surprise to see how much I enjoyed it!

" I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night and the satisfaction that the constant flicker of men and women and machines gives to the restless eye. I liked to walk up fifth avenue and pick out romantic women from the crowd and imagine in a few minutes I was going to enter their lives, and how no one would ever know or disapprove... Again at eight o'clock, when the darkness of the forties were fire deep with throbbing taxi cabs, bound for the theatre district, I felt a sinking in my heart. Forms leaned together in the taxis as they waited, and voices sang, and there was laughter from unheard jokes, and lighted cigarettes outlined unintelligible gestures inside" The Great Gatsby

all images drawn by me