Anxious Vision: Real Time and the Architecture of Video Games

3 units

What can architects learn from examining the visual structures of 3D video games? How have they influenced the culture of architectural representation? Why should the gaming perspective view and level structure be considered essential elements for contemporary architectural theory? How is video game theory instrumentalized in the creation of architecture? To begin, video game engines are becoming ubiquitous features in architectural rendering culture. Platforms like Unreal, Unity, and Twinmotion offer designers tools to create environments that can be explored and interacted with in real time by the user-client. Although 3D modeling, rendering, and animation platforms have been commonplace in architecture schools and experimental studios since the 1990s, accessible, interactive, real-time rendering platforms are a more recent and less studied phenomenon. The architecture of level design and the companion art of worldbuilding constitute a new representational paradigm. In this seminar, we will examine the spatial structures of contemporary gaming titles and explore a series of historical and theoretical texts from Video Game Studies. The final assignment will be project-based and designed using the Unreal Engine.