Page 48 - JCAU-6-2

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
From burrow to bungalow: The role of

storytelling in regenerative architecture

Rolf Hughes*
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Campus Sint Lucas, KU Leuven, Ghent,
Brussels, Belgium
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Regenerative Architecture)

Abstract
Regenerative architecture requires interdisciplinary knowledge instruments to
help us reconceive research from post-anthropocene perspectives, initiating new
conversations about how we creatively engage our world. In this paper, the author
— a writer, prose poet, and professor of artistic research — explores the contribution
of storytelling as a practice within artistic research to regenerative architecture, a
form of architecture for which the ecological and ethical implications of each design
decision are foremost. It argues, through a reading of Kafka’s last short story, The
Burrow, that the current focus on maintenance and sustainability may be insufficient;
we need, like Jack in the tale “Jack and the Beanstalk,” to explore the problem
of survival on a higher level. Artistic research can help us navigate uncertainty,
*Corresponding author:
Rolf Hughes develop toolsets, integrate practices, and extend the concept of experiment. Artistic
(rolf.hughes@gmail.com) researchers develop knowledge-making through unconventional concepts, creative
Citation: Hughes, R. (2024). From methodologies, and alternative practices that accompany and engender unique
burrow to bungalow: The role of sensibilities, patterns of thought, and knowledge formats. Bringing established
storytelling in regenerative architecture. knowledge practices into dialog with non-conventional perspectives, such research
Journal of Chinese Architecture and provokes new mode(l)s of knowledge that serve regenerative architecture’s need
Urbanism, 6(2), 1335.
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1335 for “worlding” narratives. Inviting us to think anew through remaking the world
materially and relationally, the paper argues that storytelling allows us to mediate
Received: July 19, 2023
emergent encounters and alternative epistemologies. It summarizes the salient
Accepted: August 29, 2023 elements of narrative craft, provides examples of regenerative themes in different
Published Online: March 13, 2024 cultural narratives, including two Chinese folk tales, offers a reading of Franz Kafka’s
The Burrow from a regenerative architecture perspective, and adapts Kafka’s story
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an open-access article into a contemporary setting through an original short story — a fable for the
distributed under the terms of the consequences of ignoring ongoing signs of crisis. The paper, which is illustrated by
Creative Commons Attribution- the author’s original artistic images throughout, is a contribution from a foremost
Non-Commercial 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits all proponent of language-based artistic research, a practice that combines creative
non-commercial use, distribution, and critical writing. By enfolding creative and critical approaches to regenerative
and reproduction in any medium, architecture, the paper demonstrates how stories can provide compelling models
provided the original work is
properly cited. of ethical and political complexities that engage interdependencies within the
ecological realm.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Keywords: Creative and critical writing; Artistic research; Storytelling; Speculative fiction
affiliations.

Volume 6 Issue 2 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.1335