Nawratek, K., 2022.

Mapping the creative edge

The contemporary creative practice increasingly blurs disciplinary boundaries and ability to negotiate a shared creative vision becomes a requirement for future practice in architecture and beyond. Responding to this need, this chapter discusses the collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches in architectural pedagogy using literary methods. "Free City Guide, " a collaborative project involving architecture and literature students at Birmingham City University (UK), aimed to establish a transdisciplinary approach to mapping using literary methods (poetry, storytelling, and translation) and film-making. A dialogic approach rooted in the Mikhail Bakhtin's idea of polyphony, informed both the theoretical underpinning of the project and the pedagogical approach used in its delivery, highlighting the importance of multi-voiced narratives in the creative process. The project explored Birmingham canals, defined as liminal urban spaces (Edgelands), and through the use of literary methods allowed for subjective narratives to emerge, reflecting on the multiplicity of perceptions of the world while simultaneously validating individual experiences and cultural backgrounds of students. In this process, literary and visual mapping techniques created a rich creative environment, fostered and supported by inclusive creative studio practices.