Architecture in Search for an Author Re-scripting the Yards of Tbilisi

Abstract

This study examines the role of authorship through the architecture of the Yards of Tbilisi –spaces shaped over time by various agents without a clearly defined origin. These structures, often overlooked by formal regulations during the Russian Empire, developed along independent trajectories, diverging from officially sanctioned design. Through notational drawings that combine visual representation with stories, memories, and observations, the research reassembles fragmented traces into a new narrative. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of Barthes, Eco, and Ricoeur, the Yards are interpreted as open frameworks, where the absence of a central author invites reinterpretation and transformation. The study proposes a design approach based on re-scripting, where architectural and narrative elements are recomposed to imagine possible futures. Positioned between historical investigation and fictional invention, this work explores how spatial configurations, once excluded from dominant architectural discourse, can become sites for creative redefinition and renewed relevance within the urban fabric.

Keywords: notational drawing, yards of Tbilisi, post-authorship