USYD Architecture, Design and Planning Graduate Exhibition 2025

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An Illustrated Architectural Taxonomy of Five of Virginia Woolf’s Major Fictional Works. Excerpt 1: Dining Rooms.

An Illustrated Architectural Taxonomy of Five of Virginia Woolf’s Major Fictional Works. Excerpt 2: Kitchens.

An Illustrated Architectural Taxonomy of Five of Virginia Woolf’s Major Fictional Works. Excerpt 3: Studies.

An Illustrated Architectural Taxonomy of Five of Virginia Woolf’s Major Fictional Works. Excerpt 4: Doors.

An Illustrated Architectural Taxonomy of Five of Virginia Woolf’s Major Fictional Works. Excerpt 5: Stairs.

The Architecture of the Novel

One summer day, Virginia Woolf wrote Vita Sackville-West an intimate, lighthearted letter in which she jokingly declared that she had engaged herself to “write a book on architecture with a man.” While this may have only been meant as a lighthearted quip, this thesis asks: What if Woolf had indeed written a book on architecture? What would her architectural theory be? This thesis posits that Woolf has a specific and unique architectural theory within her body of literature, providing a unique lens positioned at the intersection of architectural and literary theoretical discourse. The thesis collates a taxonomy of different building types, rooms and architectural elements present across five of her major fictional works. A complementary painting series correlates to each chapter of the taxonomy.

The Architecture of the Novel