Publication: Re-enchanting Reality
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Type
Thesis
Degree
BA
Date
2025
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Published Version
Abstract
This thesis explores the intersection of Surrealism and narrative abstraction as a framework for interior design, proposing an alternative to maladaptive forms of escapism. In today’s uncertain world, Surrealism presents a compelling approach to confronting and reinterpreting reality. By analyzing Surrealism’s layered narrative approach, this research proposes a foundation for designing interiors that embrace diverse perspectives and encourage meaningful re-engagement with reality across various contexts.
Through a comprehensive literature review, this thesis traces the philosophical, literary, and artistic foundations of Surrealism and examines its evolution into interior design. In parallel, it explores the development of narrative design, emphasizing its capacity for reframing spatial and societal perspectives. A visual analysis of selected interior designs by Carlo Mollino anchors this investigation, providing insights into the synthesis of Surrealism and narrative abstraction in interior spaces. Through the study of Mollino’s work, this research seeks to identify how surreal narrative abstraction can be applied to interiors in ways that encourage confrontation with reality instead of its avoidance in the form of maladaptive escapism.
Carlo Mollino’s interiors reveal a recurring interplay between refuge and exposure, using surrealist narrative abstraction to invite shifts in perspective rather than offering pure escape. Through ambiguity, nonlinearity, temporal eclecticism, reflective surfaces, and material juxtapositions, Mollino’s designs disrupt rational expectations and reframe the interior as a space of re-interpretation and psychological agency.
The interplay of Surrealism and narrative abstraction, exemplified in Carlo Mollino’s work, reposition interior design from a mere refuge to a tool for introspection and reorientation – offering an alternative to maladaptive escapism in navigating the uncertainties of the contemporary world.