Territories of Play – Spatial Interludes

Abstract

The course stresses the scenographic aspects of game environments and the relation to architecture and beyond. Game sets –be it virtual or material– will be explored concerning their dynamic spatial properties and the prosthetic impact on the player: as passage or field, loaded with rules, limits and possibilities.

Objective

The course will look into the spatio-temporal experiences that various games offer and how this influences the player – specifically in moments of transition. Based on textual and lectured inputs, the course will be structured into three distinct and complementary parts: 1. Portraying of an existing game 2. Extrapolating of a pivotal situation and the inherent change of state for the player. 3. Application on a real world situation.

Content

In “Junk Space” Rem Koolhaas unmasked the current condition of architecture on a global scale: The contraction into a hollow surface that extends endlessly, with an overwhelming emphasize on effects, light, sounds and odours. Atmosphere without material; the contrast of extreme spatial jump-cuts and extra-long blurred thresholds. Games go even further as their scenography is liberated from architectures biggest burden: substance and gravity. What spatial phenomena take place in the ever more present game environments? The course is echoing a fascinating genealogy that runs through the history of architecture itself: Portals, Limits, Thresholds, Gib doors, Guards, Passages, Seduction, Attraction, (Dis)-Orientation, Signs, Trompe-l‘œil, Illusions, etc.

Resources