thesis: storytelling + design
My thesis explored an intersection of storytelling psychology and architectural design. Check out my full thesis book here.
Stories are how we as people connect with each other, remember our history, find meaning in our lives, and conceive of our own identities. When a story becomes attached to an ordinary object, it can turn that object into something priceless - think of a precious family heirloom or a historical artifact. I wanted to know, how can we attach stories to the places we design in order to create more meaningful places? Obviously, there are many ways to do so, some as simple as naming a building after something or someone noteworthy. But how can we use the power of story to drive design?
I explored the use of character archetypes, each of which is present in fiction throughout the ages and represents a fundamental human desire. Marketers often use these archetypes to tap into consumer psychology and attach a certain identity to a brand. After exploring the power of story and archetypes, I began to research how the human brain actually interprets and experiences its environment. I learned that we have more than just our five main senses, and that they provoke emotional and physical reactions in us that are very closely linked. Not only that, but a “preview” of our senses can be experienced before the actual sense is engaged. This happens because the human brain takes cues from its environment that it uses to run simulations, making a feeling more readily available and thus increasing the speed at which it moves from the brain to the body when it’s needed. For example, when you see a door handle your brain is cued to run a simulation of you opening the door, which engages all of the same neurons that will be fired once you actually open it.
My design project combined my newfound knowledge of human psychology in these areas. I designed a bookstore that used these archetypes as design drivers, each room of the bookstore attempting to invoke the central desire of a certain character archetype - to become more than just a room, to become an experience which may become a story in the life of its occupants. In order to do this, I attempted to design for all of the occupants’ senses. This ranged from provoking their spatial awareness (spatial design being the most fundamental part of architecture) all the way down to their sense of smell (each room featuring a signature scent).
