Storytelling and Worldmaking: In Search of Political Architecture in the Work of Hannah Arendt

This article places Hannah Arendt’s theory of politics in the context of architectural making, action, and storytelling. Targeted specifically at the architectural reception of Arendt, it highlights the distinction between the world of work and the realm of free agency, arguing that storytelling—a political act—should be of equal concern to the politically ambitious architect as the making of buildings. Distinct from both fiction and architectural project narratives, Arendt’s storytelling contributes to rethinking the role of the architect in collaborative projects as well as the potential for political agency in architectural works.