Abstract:
This thesis seeks to address the role of the architect as a storyteller and world builder. It seeks to address and answer the question of
“What is the Real World Value of World Building? And what relevance does World Building have to Architecture?”
It investigates the topics of world building through first addressing significant literary Authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Margaret Atwood. Using their findings and Tolkien’s writings in his essay On Fairy-Stories as primary design drivers. It seeks to further deepen understandings on the topics of fictional worlds by creating an objective means to analyse them. It does this through the theories of Verisimilitude as discussed by Steve Neale alongside Tzvetan Todorov’s the Fantastic. These theories are later used as primary drivers to inform design decisions. The thesis culminates in four unique designs that each address a specific value of world building with each design leading to a discussion on the value it has created as well as its relevance to architecture.
