Architecture as image-space-text

A poem by Sylvia Plath provides a basis for contemplation on the inetrtwining relations between
‘space’, ‘image’ and ‘text’ and on how they might inform architectural representation in a critical
way. Departing from a framework that sees an essentially empathetic and inter-productive
relation between space and the subject, this article discusses the engagement of architectural
representation with visuality and textuality, reconsidered however through a poeticising
subjectivity. Drawing upon Benjamin, Bachelard and Lacan, I argue that the role of visuality in
spatial experience should be reconsidered beyond conventional optics, but instead in terms of
‘images’ that derive from psychic activity.

Citation:
Nigianni, B. (2007) ‘Architecture as image-space-text’ in Frascari, M., Hale, J. and Starkey, B. (eds.) From Models to Drawings: Imagination and Representation in Architecture, London and New York: Routledge. pp.253-260..