Project: The Hound of Tarskapol
The Hound of Tarskapol is the flagship narrative of the Kahani Brigade, a theoretical exhibition design firm that develops and showcases custom fictional narratives through the design language of museum exhibits. ‘Kahani’ is the Hindi word for story, a word that makes up the backbone of the firm’s mission: Deliver stories to people by allowing them to momentarily live in the world those stories occupy.
Writing For Exhibition
01
The story of the Hound of Tarskapol was written with the exhibition in mind. Narrative twists and turns were planned to fit the meandering of a museum-goer as they physically twist and turn through the walls of the exhibit. If the full capabilities of exhibition design aren't utilized, why bother?
Room 4: The Hound & Interpol
The immediate presence that comes with exhibitions allowed me to lean into certain narrative moments that I wanted to have leap off the page, in this case quite literally. The use of sculpture lends substantial gravitas to the Hound's first message to the world. Lighting and wall segmenting provide even more theatrical flair.
Text made in Autodesk Fusion 360
Environment made in Autodesk Revit
Environment rendered in Enscape
Room 3: Missile & Memorial
On the other hand, the exhibition format allows me to leverage the fact that most museum-goers are absorbing information with the intent to learn about the real world. Thus, providing 'flavor text' like the following description of a missile used in the Battle of Tarskapol breathes more life into the speculative future within which the reader is temporarily inhabiting.
Text made in Autodesk Fusion 360
Placeholder images made with Dalle-3
Environment made in Autodesk Revit
Environment rendered in Enscape
Room 2: Crisis at the Danube
Larger, initial rooms also allow me to dump exposition in more interesting ways. Common items of war and peace in the year 2045 are no longer relegated to long paragraphs on online forums. Now, fabricated items in display cases allow museum-goers to feel as if they are in the future themselves.
Text made in Autodesk Fusion 360
Placeholder images made with Dalle-3
Environment made in Autodesk Revit
Environment rendered in Enscape
Developing a Floorplan
02
Although I wrote 'The Hound of Tarskapol' with an exhibition in mind, I didn't develop the exact floorplan until after the narrative was complete. Once it was, I used Autodesk Revit to create a layout and Enscape to render and explore it.
Key:
Flow of Travel
Storage Space
Restroom
Locations:
1: Entrance
2: Crisis at the Danube
3: Missile & Memorial
4: The Hound & Interpol
5: The Clusternet
6: The Tarskapol Red Room
7: Faust
8: Ballistic Analysis
9: Bucharest
10: Arrival in Tbilisi
11: The Tbilisi Bombing
12: Faust & The Hound
13: Hägg's Protégé
14: The End Begins
15: Chit-Bit & Lyon
16: The Interrogation
17: Arvisen's Gambit
18: Aftermath
Populating Spaces
03
A narrative as large as this one demands a variety of methods to entice and inform museum-goers, lest they become bored or overwhelmed. Thus, I allowed myself to get creative with sculptural displays and graphics, finding more abstract ways to convey complex information.
The Story
04
Intrigued by what you've seen? Read through The Hound of Tarskapol: Story Supplement for an overview of the narrative.