Building Stories #[e]

This oversized, boxed collection from Chris Ware assembles fourteen distinct printed pieces—ranging from broadsheets and booklets to a hardcover volume and a fold-out game board—that together form an interconnected narrative exploring the lives of residents in a Chicago apartment building. Rather than a traditional graphic novel, it offers a modular storytelling experience where readers can engage with the fragments in any order, gradually piecing together the emotional histories of characters like a lonely young woman, her elderly landlady, and a struggling married couple. Published by Pantheon in 2012, it won the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album and was widely acclaimed for its innovative format and poignant examination of time, memory, and connection.