From text to image ekphrasis in architecture

The last century and the first years of the new millennium indicate a period of architectural discourse where representation and its definition appear to be in the center of discussions as it was never before. Without any doubt, the contribution of recent tools of architectural representation has a great influence on these discussions. Expectations from architecture and architectural representation have changed during the last century. Today architecture does not only mean production and organization of space but it also seems as a medium to produce meaning. This phenomenon affected the relationship between architecture and architectural representation. A related subject to the issue of representation is interdisciplinary studies, which became a field of focus especially in the last years. Academicians, scholars and artists try to create a new perspective by adopting knowledge, representation techniques and devices from other disciplines in order to achieve a better understanding of their own disciplines. Through the improvement of information technologies, the image of architecture became also a matter of discussion. This current situation caused new arguments such as crisis of representation and accordingly the reproduction and representation of image. In the study, the introduction part where the approach of the thesis is examined is followed by the second part 'the Issue of Architectural Representation', which is basically focused on the subject above: the relationship between architecture, representation and image. In the beginning of the chapter, the definition of representation and a short history of architectural representation are summarized and then the last century is analyzed through the frame of this crisis. Crisis of representation emerges as an effective phenomenon of 20th century discussed in many disciplines such as positive sciences, philosophy, arts, politics and economics. The reflection on architecture has been distinctive in modernism, early utopias of the century and following movements. In the closure of the century, the improvement of information technologies pointed to a new period in which representation is mainly defined with visual image. The velocity of production, circulation and reproduction of image has reached to a point where it became a mere self-referent representation of itself and this deepened the crisis. At this point the central idea of this study, the concept of ekphrasis will be discussed. The word ekphrasis is the combination of 'ek' and 'phrasis', which mean 'out' and 'speak'. Ekphrasis as a rhetorical device in Ancient Greek literature is usually defined as a verbal representation of a visual representation. In the chapter 'Ekphrasis as a Device', the concept is analyzed from its historical roots to its current role in literature and other art forms. It is observed that many academicians and artists argue ekphrasis is a device, which can be used for transposition of meaning between different mediums of representation, not just from painting to poem but also from painting to photography, from photography to cinema, from literature to music and from architecture to poem. It is also observed that the natural direction of the concept -from visual to verbal- is a matter of discussion. Current arguments on the subject indicate that ekphrasis is not necessarily a verbal representation. A visual, plastic or a musical representation can also be discussed as an ekphrastic work. The idea of examining the potentials of ekphrasis in architectural representation has derived from the study above. Ekphrasis as a representational device seems to be suitable to discuss the relations between image and meaning in architectural representation. In this context, the last chapter 'Ekphrasis in Architectural Representation' focuses on the relationships between text and space. The chapter is developed through five steps. In the first step, the current definitions of the concept and examples of architectural ekphrastic texts are analyzed. Second step is about fiction. The focus of this part is hybrid representations, which exist between image, text and architecture. The third step examines poetic and architectural images and metaphors, which are essential to an ekphrastic interpretation between text and architecture. In the fourth step, the relationships between literature and architecture are determined as time-space, body, language and memory. An ekphrastic interpretation, whatever the primary and the secondary mediums are works with the collaboration of these relationships. The last step argues ekphrastic transitions in the light of two text-spaces: Danteum designed by Giuseppe Terragni in memoriam of Dante and his Divine Comedy and the Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk, which is a concurrently written and built museum. The Divine Comedy is an epic poem by Dante Alighieri. It is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem describes Dante's imagenary journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Danteum is a building designed by Giuseppe Terragni in memoriam of Dante. The building was not constructed but the design was presented at the 1942 Exhibition in Rome. The building is the embodied representation of the poem. In this study, the transition from poem to building is analyzed through the concept of ekphrasis. The second case study is the Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk. The unique nature of the museum is that it is a building and a novel, which were created at the same time. The transpositions from the story to the built space and vice versa exhibit a linear and yet very interesting interpretation between text and space. Reader can experience the story by reading the book or by visiting the museum. Both are different representations of the same story connected to each other through words, memory, time and space. The main purpose of architectural design is to create a meaningful space. In order to achieve this purpose architects use different strategies. In this context literature and literary devices, provide fertile ground. The use of ekphrasis will enrich the design process not just by translating the meaning from another medium of representation but also by affecting the way of thinking and designing. It is also important to emphasize that such a design process is a onetime expedition. Each design will need a new set of rules and a new language. In this study, both in the conceptual discussions and in case studies examined in the light of these discussions it is seen, that ekphrasis is a device, which can transport meaning from literature to architecture, from verbal representation to architectural representation.