Building StoriesAn Exploration of Place

A lot has already been written in a relatively short amount of time about Chris Ware's remarkable new
book Building Stories. (Book is in quotation marks as the story is told via a series of pamphlets
books broadsheets and an oversi!ed s"reen that resembles nothin# so mu"h as a board #ame.$ The
Comics Journal ran a series of essays at the time of its release% "ontributes to Chris Ware: Drawing as
a Way of Thinking were #iven the "han"e to revisit their essays whi"h e&plored work previously
published by Ware that eventually be"ame Building Stories. (Available here: http'((www.t")."om(ta#(buildin#*
stories*essays() +hilip ,el who tau#ht Building Stories last semester helpfully has posted not only a plan
on how to ta"kle the book with students but a fairly "omprehensive list of arti"les and reviews that
have been published in the - months sin"e its publi"ation. (Available here'
http://wwwphilnelco!/"#$"/$$/#%/teachingware/ )
As the general plot and character of the boo& are covered elsewhere' ( would li&e to focus on the
representation of place within the narrative' and the si#nifi"an"e of lo"ality to the interpretation of
spe"ifi" story*ob)e"ts within Building Stories. . won't tou"h on all of the ob)e"ts within the bo&
leavin# out Branford the Bee and only #lan"in# upon the pie"es set in /ak +ark .0% . want to fo"us
mu"h more on the pie"es that revolve around the old tenement*style apartment in Chi"a#o itself. 1,ote'
none of the four "hara"ters who inhabit the apartment buildin# are named. .t be"omes "lear over the
"ourse of the lar#er narrative that the main "hara"ter is the female tenant who lives on the top floor. 2or
ease . will refer to her as su"h and the other "hara"ters in relation to her' the downstairs "ouple and
the old landlady. .roni"ally her "at is named but she has #iven it the uninspired moniker 3iss 4itty so
effe"tively is as unnamed as the rest.5
.n order to #et a better sense of the stru"ture of the buildin# he was "onstru"tin# Chris Ware a"tually
built a paper model of it. 6his wasn't the first model he has made mind you as there's an ima#e datin#
from 7898 in 6od :i#nite's In The Studio of a !odel he made for his #randmother of the apartment
he was livin# in. ;he never had a doll house #rowin# up so when she asked to see what his studio
looked like he "reated this simula"ra for her (:i#nite p <=>$. /f "ourse the model of the apartment
buildin# is quite a bit lar#er and more "omple& than previous attempts.
Ware also made a "opy of the ori#inal buildin# model to be displayed at a #allery show that "oin"ided
with the book's laun"h. When "reatin# the dupli"ate he reali!ed it would be no more work for him to
make plans that others "ould use to re"reate his buildin# and so a limited edition "ompanion was
"reated' a 7? sheet "olle"tion of dry te"hni"al drawin#s paper thin walls and "ramped psy"holo#i"al
spa"es. (2rom @AB's website' http://wwwdrawnand)uarterl*co!/shop+atalog,ongphp-
st.art/art.a0dff1dd234fe#$ Ware has said of these models theyCre somethin# of a )oke on memory how
we re"onstru"t thin#s from our senses literally rebuildin# the world in our minds (.rvin#$.
6he same mi#ht be said of the stru"ture of the apartment buildin# itself a sort of off*kilter rebuildin#
mash*up or pasti"he of two apartments Ware a"tually lived in over the years an amal#amation of a real
and ima#ined Chi"a#o. .t's like a weird bad memory of or a mis*remembered version of two different
apartment buildin#s... re"ombined (Deid$. Ware wanted to "reate a shell mu"h like the doll houses his
#randmother never had empty spa"es filled with potential ener#y. We inherently want to make up
stories to fill these "har#ed spa"es. Ware fulfills this need by not merely tellin# us about the "urrent
inhabitants but throu#h the use of the buildin# as a "hara"ter allows the reader to know the story of
the buildin# itself.
6he embodied voi"e of the buildin# speaks in the two hardbound books in the "olle"tion providin# an
e&panded framework for the story. While most of the stories in the "olle"tion fo"us on the buildin#'s
"urrent inhabitants the voi"e of the buildin# reminds the reader that while these may be unique
individuals little in the routines of their lives is si#nifi"antly different from any of the previous litany
of tenants over the past hundred or so years. 6his is not to say that ea"h person is )ust a blank
automaton fulfillin# roboti" #estures di"tated by the spa"e they live in% the buildin# has empathy for its
tenants. When the woman downstairs storms away after a fi#ht the buildin# plaintively "alls her ba"k
even thou#h it knows that she will never be happy with her boyfriend. 6he buildin# has a bit of
foresi#ht into the lives of its tenants at least for the duration of their stay. Eet its own future isn't so
"lear as it on"e was% the landlady is #rowin# older and has no family to inherit the house on"e she
passes away.
6he realities of short leases brief stays and a hurried "ity lifestyle may "ause us to wonder if any tra"e
of us remains in these pla"es whi"h an"hor our daily lives. @o we leave psy"holo#i"al marks behind as
well as holes in the wallF When Ga"ob Bro#an revisited pie"es of Building Stories for his essay
'2rom Comi"s :istory to +ersonal 3emory' he dis"usses a sequen"e where the reader sees a tabulation
of o""urren"es within the buildin#'s walls'
Building Stories turns from problems of the "olle"tive past to questions of personal
memory.... What we find here then is somethin# like a sedimented re"ord of all
those everyday banalities that must #o for#otten if we are to "ontinue #oin# about
our lives. 0ike the apartment buildin# itself whi"h disappears into the weave of the
te&t as a whole these are the thin#s we leave behind as we mature.
6he house is a repository for the "olle"ted lives of those who have "ome before and the few yet to
"ome.
While we leave marks on the pla"es we inhabit we must also a"knowled#e how mu"h these pla"es
shape us as well. 6om 3"Carthy's book Remainder is fo"used on a man who tries to e&a"tly
re"reate a pla"e he lived in an attempt to evoke a feelin# he has lost. .t's somethin# as subtle as passin#
between a "ou"h and a "ounter while his shirt )ust barely tu#s alon# a rou#h ed#e of the "ounter led#e
that takes him ba"k to the state of mind he lon#s forHa motion he performed "ountless times without
ever payin# it any mind whi"h et"hed itself into his sub"ons"ious. .n an interview with Chris 3autner
Ware dis"usses this link between the physi"ality of spa"e and mnemoni"s'
3y in"essant use of rulers is more of an attempt to #et at how houses and buildin#s
affe"t the shapes and stru"tures of our memories and how these shapes "an
"ontinue to live on in our minds years or de"ades on"e the buildin#s are #one. 2or
e&ample when one "omes down a stairway day after day after day somethin# #ets
imprinted on the memory and the mind about roundin# a "orner and #rabbin# a
banister in a very primal almost non*verbal way. Iven thou#h itCs not an ima#e
e&a"tly that shape or the shape that movement "reates is )ust as mu"h a memory as
how a house or a person looked at a #iven time and it "an shape dreams and even
e&perien"es indu"in# re"olle"tions to arise at odd une&pe"ted times whenever a
"orner is rounded and a banister is #rabbed.
6his physi"al de)a vu speaks to how deeply we internali!e the spa"es we live in. .n a way this is the
real*life version of the memory pala"e that Domans used as a mnemoni" aid asso"iatin# "ertain fa"ts or
ideas with spa"es in an ima#inary room. Dather a"tual memories are tied to the physi"al spa"es and
ob)e"ts we mindlessly intera"t with daily. (n his Globe and Mail arti"le Geet :eer asserts that part of
Ware's #enius is his ability to use ar"hite"tural "onstru"ts to show the symbioti" relationship between
buildin# and residents. 6he main "hara"ter even muses out loud about the link between ar"hite"ture and
memory after a "onversation with her landlady. 6he older woman dis"ussed her old artwork that is
stored in the atti" leavin# the main "hara"ter to wonder'
Why is it always in the Jatti"J where we banish our pastF .s it be"ause sin"e it's
always above us it feel analo#ous to our mindsFK . wondered if maybe somewhere
there was a "ulture that ima#ined its memories residin# somewhere other than in
the brain like in the heart or in the feet and if they built their houses a""ordin#ly
storin# thin#s in the middle or in the basement. (7>am ;eptember <?rd <>>>$
5his concept is obviousl* !ore thoroughl* reali6ed in the sections pertaining to the apart!ent building'
but there is still so!e se!blance of these the!es running through the 7a& Par& !aterial 5ruth be told'
when ( was first !a&ing !* wa* through the box' ( thought that the 7a& Par& !aterial was divergent
and was disheartened to see how !uch of the narrative was set there But as ( waded through the pieces
and started to figure out that the whole stor* is filtered through the !ain character8s i!agination' (
started to appreciate the subtle cross9references that tie the whole wor& together :or exa!ple' in the
afore!entioned conversation' the landlad* would never have said her art was in the attic' because she
would have &nown that the building she spent her whole life in didn8t have one; that her things were all
in the base!ent 5he !ain character is onl* alerted to the lac& of an attic when a previous tenant co!es
to fix her plu!bing <hile the ho!e she !oves to with her husband doesn8t spea& in flowing cursive
lettering' that doesn8t !ean its character doesn8t have a si!ilar i!pact on the protagonist8s life
(<orden)
<are pla*s with readers8 understanding of place in !ore wa*s than bestowing the building a voice (
found one of the slighter ob=ects in the box to also be one of the !ost for!all* interesting 5he pri!ar*
conceit in Building Stories is that each person will !a&e their wa* through the collected ob=ects in a
different order 5he reader has to choose their own !ethod' and ( chose to read the stor* fro! the
s!allest ob=ects to largest 5his !eant that ( approached the silent' flip9boo&9st*le stor* fairl* earl* on
( did not have the context fro! the larger narrative to fra!e this stor*9ob=ect' so too& !uch of it at face
value
>pon first reading ( wor&ed out that each page see!s to ta&e approxi!atel* one season' and trac&s the
develop!ent of the protagonist8s daughter ( also !ade so!e erroneous assu!ptions :or exa!ple: the
father leaves for wor& in the 2
th
spread and does no appear again until the $%
th
' originall* leading !e to
thin& that perhaps the couple had split up or ta&en a brea&' when actuall*' ( had !issed that each spread
also accounts for one hour in the da*' chronologicall*' so he si!pl* went to wor& and returned' albeit a
fair bit older ( also too& for granted that each of the roo!s ( was presented with were stable (ie the
living roo! we are shown in spread ? is the sa!e as 1) As a reader' we assu!e a certain a!ount of
stasis in the places we are shown @et the bedroo! the protagonist is shown sleeping in shifts without
an* warning' and ver* little visual indication 7n the first page' other buildings in urban +hicago are
clearl* seen' !ar&ing the setting as the apart!ent building' but in the 0
rd
spread' the protagonist loo&s
out the window and sees the front path of her 7a& Par& ho!e 7nl* after reading several other pieces
did ( beco!e aware of enough of the larger stor* to understand this shift in place had occurred <are
subtl* betra*s the reader8s expectations to foreground preconceptions surrounding place and location in
traditional narrative
,ocation grounds us in ti!e' as well as space A* understanding of the change in location in the
previous exa!ple ca!e as !uch fro! !* &nowledge that the protagonist !oves ho!e around the ti!e
of her daughter8s birth as it did fro! the view out her window Beet Ceer' Daniel <orden and Aatt
Eodbe* all draw attention to ti!e in relation to <are8s use of architecture' focusing on the apart!ent
building as the locus for a shift in the perceived Fhistorical scaleG of the narrative (<orden) <hile
Eodbe* argues that FBuilding Stories is a pro=ect obsessed with HaI lived experience of ti!eG' he
also notes that the presence of the building' as a fixed point in a changing cit*' alters the reader8s
perception of the ti!e9scale involved in the narrative 5he building acts as a sort of archive' locating
the current cast of characters within a histor* of tenants who! the* are' !ostl*' unaware of 5he
for!er inhabitant' now plu!ber' re!inds the protagonist that she lives in the current version of the
house' in the current version of +hicago 5his notion is thrown into even sharper focus in one of the
!ore =arring episodes within Building Stories; the reader is wrenched hundreds of *ears into the future'
where a wo!an is accessing the e!otional past associated with her location' and watches the actions of
the couple fro! downstairs at an El stop 5his is still +hicago' with its elevated trains speeding through
the cit*' but it is not our +hicago of FnowG' or the building8s +hicago of the earl* "#
th
centur*
Ware utili!es lo"ality and ar"hite"ture to problemati!e the reader's understandin# of time and pla"e in
the multi*te&tual Building Stories. 6he loopin# "ursive voi"e of the apartment buildin# an"hors the
narrative's past at least as far ba"k as the elderly landlady's "hildhood memories. As Chi"a#o #rows
around it the buildin# #rounds its inhabitants. Ia"h new tenant ena"ts similar patterns to the one who
"ame before be it ki"kin# their shoes into the same "orner or starin# out the same window when
plannin# their lives. We are seldom "ons"ious of the patterns our dwellin#s instill in our lives and it is
perhaps the very effortlessness of these banal habits that imprint them so deeply in our memories. As
:eer says JAll of us are boxed in 5his sentence can be ta&en as a figurative description' but it also
happens to be literall* true <e are born in boxes' live in boxes and die in boxesG Ware deftly draws
our attention to these inno"uous moments and makes the reader aware of the importan"e buildin#s have
in our lives.
Keferences
Bro#an Ga"ob. <>7<. 2rom Comi"s :istory to +ersonal 3emory. The Comics Journal 1/nline5.
Available' http://wwwtc=co!/fro!9co!ics9histor*9to9personal9!e!or*/ 1A""essed <9(>7(<>7?5.
Lodbey 3att. <>7<. At the ;till +oint of the 6urnin# World' Chris WareCs Buildin# ;tories and the
;ear"h for ;tru"ture in the Contemporary City. The Comics Journal 1/nline5. Available'
http'((www.t")."om(at*the*still*point*of*the*turnin#*world*"hris*wares*buildin#*stories*and*the*sear"h*for*
stru"ture*in*the*"ontemporary*"ity( 1A""essed <9(>7(<>7?5.
:eer Geet. <>7<. When is a book like a buildin#F When Chris Ware is the author. The Globe and Mail
1/nline5 >=(7>(<>7<. Available' http'((www.the#lobeandmail."om(arts(books*and*media(book*
reviews(when*is*a*book*like*a*buildin#*when*"hris*ware*is*the*author(arti"leM=87N=<( 1A""essed
<9(>7(<>7?5.
:i#nite 6od. <>>-. n the studio : !isits with contem"orary cartoonists ,ew :aven ' Eale Oniversity
+ress "<>>-.
.rvin# Christopher. <>7<. Lraphi" ,ovel and Comi" Book Creators in ,ew Eork City * Lraphi" ,EC.
Gra"hic #$C 1/nline5. Available' http'((www.ny"#raphi"novelists."om(<>7<(>?("hris*ware*on*
buildin#*better*"omi".html 1A""essed <9(>7(<>7?5.
3autner Chris. <>7<. . :oped 6hat the Book Would Gust Be 2un' A Brief .nterview with Chris
Ware P 6he Comi"s Gournal. The Comics Journal 1/nline5. Available' http'((www.t")."om(i*hoped*
that*the*book*would*)ust*be*fun*a*brief*interview*with*"hris*ware( 1A""essed <8(>7(<>7?5.
Deid Calvin. <>7<. A 0ife in A Bo&' .nvention Clarity and 3eanin# in Chris WareCs QBuildin#
;toriesC. %ublisher&s Weekly 1/nline5. Available' http'((www.publishersweekly."om(pw(by*
topi"(industry*news("omi"s(arti"le(=M7=M*a*life*in*a*bo&*invention*"larity*and*meanin#*in*
"hris*ware*s*buildin#*stories.html.
Worden @aniel. <>7<. 0oss as 0ife in Buildin# ;tories. The Comics Journal 1/nline5. Available'
http'((www.t")."om(loss*as*life*in*buildin#*stories( 1A""essed <=(>7(<>7?5.