Bridging: The spatial construction of knowledge in architectural research

This contribution proposes an interdisciplinary approach to architectural research, and states that composition is a methodological act of research. It will first argue that architectural research and practice can gain from a multi-perspectival approach, bringing in knowledge from different fields - in this case the field of literature. Referring to the author's recently finished dissertation, it proposes a literary approach to architecture and the city, and explains how the ambiguities of architecture (subject-object, author-user and reality-fiction) can be addressed by literary means. Then, it makes clear that bringing together knowledge from different fields requires an act of composition. It argues that knowledge can be seen as a spatial construction rather than a linear one, and that the mediating capacity of the architect offers researchers with a background in architecture the possibility to develop such spatial research compositions.