Territories of Play - Deep Space II

Abstract

DEEP SPACE II is the 10th iteration of Voluptas' research on play and architecture. The course encourages students to analyse the relationship between play and space by focussing on depth as a spatiotemporal condition that goes beyond the question of form. It will test playfulness as a critical design tool and investigate depth as a desirable condition of urbanity.

Objective

Participants of the course will be able to understand the importance of depth as spatial strategy and apply basic principles of critical urban design. Furthermore, students will be able to evaluate the importance of non-material aspects for the experience of our lived environments. By performing the exercise of the course, participants will apply strategies that generate depth and investigate their potential to undermine established rules.

Content

The seminar aims at bringing together the ludic territories of play with the hidden realms of depth to attempt a critical reading of contemporary urban conditions and develop a design vocabulary for playful spatial transformation. In contrast to depth as a visual phenomenon – which was formally introduced to the architectural discourse in the Renaissance by means of the linear perspective – depth will be investigated phenomenologically. The seminar is dedicated to the questions of what role the perception of depth plays in games, how it can be created or manipulated, and whether it can be transferred to architecture as a critical design strategy. These questions are addressed through a speculative exercise with three progressive steps. As a preparation, participants describe a rule-based urban space in Zurich and gather its most iconic images to construct a visual arsenal. In the first step of the exercise, participants study and document a game of their choice, portray its unique spatial dimensions, and extract the main mechanisms for generating depth. This analysis will culminate in a diagrammatic representation of the game's main "depth mechanic". In the second step, the identified mechanic from the game will be used to manipulate the rule-based space portrayed at the beginning. This spatial manipulation will be performed by means of montage and culminate in a "deep image". Finally, participants are asked to write a speculative logline that links the diagram of the game with the montage of the space. The exercise structures the seminar as follows: Prep.: Describe a rule-based urban space in Zurich and gather its most iconic images. Ex. 1: Analyse a game of your choice and draw a diagram of its depth mechanic. Ex. 2: Manipulate the rule-based space in Zurich through montage and by making use of the mechanic from EX. 1. Ex. 3: Write a logline that links the diagram of the game with the montage of the space. Following the structure of the exercise, the seminar will include additional readings, lectures on architecture and game theory, as well as practical inputs. The exercise of the seminar is to be completed individually. Selected projects will be presented by the students in the final session of the seminar.

Resources