A SPATIAL TRANSLATION ON THE TEXT OF RAYMOND QUENEAU’S “EXERCISES IN STYLE”

Abstract

PurposeFounded in France in 1960, Ouvroir de Litterature Potentielle (OuLiPo - Workshop of Potential Literature), is a literary game group that conducts experiments to improve creativity in the act of writing. The discoveries and inventions of the group in literature have also created an adaptable potential for non-literary fields. In this study, the work of Raymond Queneau Exercises in Style, one of the early works of OuLiPo, is translated into the medium of a different discipline. With this proposal, the study aims to make an external contribution to the creativity of disciplines which produce space.Design/Methodology/ApproachThe study uses an interdisciplinary approach to practice a translation process between the Oulipian literature and architecture. By exploring the possibilities of language with 99 variations of the same story, Exercises in Style establishes strong links with translation and creativity; it has been reproduced in many different fields and translated into different languages. In light of this source text, and its reproductions in many different disciplines, 33 variations of a space are produced.FindingsWith this study, space is redefined as a translation object and the potential of the spatial medium is examined with an Oulipian approach. This translation process shows lots of equivalent aspects between linguistic and spatial expressions. Beyond adaptation of the Oulipian techniques used in the text, new creative methods also come to the fore. Therefore, this productive game represents a potential for the educational environment of space design.Originality/ValueThe reproduction produced in this study is the first spatial translation of Exercises in Style. While being a sign of respect as trying to keep the original text alive, this translation can open the ways for the text’s other adaptations for several scales of space medium or even different disciplines that have not been studied in this context yet. Furthermore, 33 variations of this space can be varied infinitely and this game can be continued as an open work.