Architecture theory in graphic narrative: The Strange Case of Mister X

Abstract

This essay begins with a review of Mister X, a comic serial taking architectural modernism as its point of departure. The graphic narrative renders a dystopian view of architecture and urbanism, as well as a biting critique of the architect as theorist. Rather than demonstrating that architecture is mute and impotent, however, the Mister X story theorizes architecture as unpredictably powerful and effective, albeit malicious. The essay examines four architectural failures suggested by the Mister X text, identifying how these limitations of the formal, material object of architecture, are, paradoxically, its very possibilities for social effect. Dean Motter's Mister X is a contemporary pop culture text, a comic serial taking architectural modernism as its point of departure. On one level, Mister X presents a straightforward dystopian view of architecture and urbanism, as well as a rather biting critique of architects' reformative desires. Indeed, the comic chronicles an alternative architectural modernism seen as a sad comedy of failures and reversals. On another level, however, Mister X suggests unexpected possibilities for recovering the modernist dream of social and personal transformation through architecture.