With comics, it is like with films: everyone focuses on the plot, the visual language is praised, but few notice the significant role architecture often plays. The built environment of the narrative is in many cases not just a mere background, but has a considerable influence on what is being told. Sometimes the drawn architecture even becomes an actor in its own right. Additionally, comic artists – similar to set designers in film – can virtually realise architectural dreams (and nightmares) and fully develop architectural visions. The four-part literature café showcases and discusses the most striking examples of this from the last 40 years, particularly innovative authors' comics from France and Belgium, but also some experimental contributions from the USA and Japan. Curator and speaker: Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Lippert Dates: Mon., 20.04.2026, 18:30: From Slumberland to Brussels. An architectural journey through the world of frames and panels. Comics, graphic novels, bande dessinée, and mangas have existed since the 19th century; in the French system of the arts, they are now classified as the "9th art." This evening will provide an introduction to the general history of this art form, the way architecture is used within it, and the various genres that have developed from it. Tue., 21.04.2026, 18:30: From the private lives of icons. Graphic novels about star architects and their buildings. In Western culture, there have repeatedly been architects who have created their own trademarks: iconic buildings that immediately reveal who designed them. Comic authors like Andreas Martens, Andreas Müller-Weiss, or Lucas Harari have been inspired to tell stories about Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, F. L. Wright, or Peter Zumthor, and in the 1970s, there were even architectural firms like Archigram that presented their projects in the form of comics. Wed., 22.04.2026, 18:30: How it could have been. Mirror worlds and counterfactual history. Comics are an ideal medium for imagining fictional worlds. With plenty of time and a postmodern mindset, entire continents can be created, with their own aesthetics and histories that reflect our reality in surprising ways. François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters ("The Mysterious Cities"), Corbeyran & Chabbert ("New Byzance", "New Harlem"), or Serge Lehman and Stéphane de Caneva ("Metropolis") have each created a powerful, almost monumental oeuvre in their own way. Thu., 23.04.2026, 18:30: Kafka greets you. Architecture as an expression of a disturbing inner world. Surreal scenes, absurd events, inner abysses, or the hermetic imprisonment within oneself have become subjects of literature and painting since the early 20th century, and now comics are also addressing these themes. Examples include the albums by Marc-Antoine Mathieu based on the stories of Franz Kafka ("Le processus", "La Qu…", "L’Origine") or the highly complex visual worlds of Chris Ware ("Jimmy Corrigan", "Building Stories"). When excellent drawing skills are added to the mix…