As architects further explore material technologies, the
mathematical limit of form driven design is becoming a thing of the past. With further endeavors into biomimicry,
parametric data outputs and optimization paths, and structural advancements,
the ability to create any form is becoming a reality. But why has the architect become so obsessive
over creating a form that is visually cherished from a grand distance? Is a structure not to aesthetically function
as equally on the inside as the exterior shell? This is where I believe a
pre-existing formula for design could not only assist in an architect’s duty to
design a space that all will enjoy objectively, but allow the design to internally
appeal to all. This existing formula
lives within the world of Video Game Design.
There are three factors that allow spatial game design to
be, in my opinion, far more successful in providing an inhabitable space that
all “will” enjoy than a typical Top-Down architectural design approach. First of all, video games are designed
knowing that the player will be viewing their digital realm through the eyes of
the digital protagonist. This view, much
like in English literature, can be portrayed in first, second, or third person
perspective; for example, when a game’s camera angle is locked in the third
person, the played character is viewed from above or over the shoulder. When the same camera is locked into first
person, the player views the game through the character’s own eyes. Through this use of visual perspective manipulation,
the game player can experience the digital rendered atmosphere in a number of
different ways. The focus on creating a
space to be experienced as opposed to objectified (architecture) ties a person emotionally
to the atmosphere in what I believe to be a stronger bond than that of exterior
form.
After creating spaces to be explored, how does one refine
this mapping to please the vast population?
Game designers have discovered the answer to this question with one
simple solution: playtesting. In
architectural design, understanding of a conceptual structure is formed through
mass productions of sketches, models, diagrams, material studies, and detail
explanations; in game design, the conceptual understanding is done with one
digital, interactive file. The design
team is given a narrative that the game is to follow throughout the designed
maps. These usually give the designer
insight on how a character interacts, both physically and emotionally, with a
surrounding that may or may not be pre-determined by the plot. For example, in the game Bioshock, the narrative received by the game architects explained
how an underwater utopian society built around the idea that people had free rein
to create without moral boundaries (much like stem cell research). This lead to the ultimate demise of the city
as its residents became mentally unstable (continuous desire for more plastic
surgery/ experimental needs to perform on children…). With this knowledge, the architects saw fit
to design an atmosphere that emotionally registered as dark, dank, insecure,
but with past values that have become rusty and hidden (diamond consumed by the
rough). The end result of the game’s
architecture became a post utopian art deco style. With this 40’s metropolis being located
several leagues beneath the sea; the play of light became an aspect within the
spatial design. The diffuse rays of
light trying to penetrate the ocean depths add an odd emotional sense of not
just serenity, but dark insecurity. The sound
of the spaces built even further onto the eerie notion of the game’s
narrative. The echoes of leaky,
dripping, creaky materials failing bring the player closer to the sense of
fear. With all of these elements
combined, the games mapping layout far surpassed the notion of the architecture
as a space, but redefined it as an additional character. Being arguably one of the greatest games ever
created (according to Game Informer, G4 Network, Playstation Magazine...) due
to this architectural “character,” its perfection was reached by, again, using
one file. To see if their conceptual
design succeeded in all architectural aspects, many groups of random people selected
off the street were brought into the design studio to play the game throughout
its several stages of final manifestation.
This is known in the video game designs field as playtesting. As a video game develops, playtesters are
brought in to tell the designers why they do or do not believe that the game is
achieving the underlying concept. With this
feedback, the designers can simply open the file, make quick tweaks to the
model based off of the tester’s notes, and continue forward with the design to
be tested again at a later time. This
process is efficient in aspects of material and time. If architects designed a space for a client
without having to focus on presentation boards, models, and virtual renderings,
but rather presented the design in a manner of “exploration,” not only would
design redundancies be cut from the timeline, but I believe clients could focus
more clearly on how well the design serves the people utilizing it (inside and
out). This idea could even be taken a
step further in saying that this process could allow architects to develop “perfect”
buildings. For example, an architect
could place his “explorable model” online for the public to playtest and leave
feedback on what they believe to be the strengths and weaknesses of the design
and its relation to the initial concept.
The public would not design the building, but critique what they (the
people who will be using the building) believe is needed or not to make it an
ideal environment for all. A utopian
building if you will.
The final factor that architecture could benefit from is the
fact that game design has no worldly limitations. There is no need to solve for
structural solutions to act against gravity, no need to include types of
material insulation to prevent over or under heating, no need to even build on
a realistic site. The possibilities are
endless. Not only can one create a space
that the communal masses agree upon, but the ground, water, or air on which it
sits upon. The limitless bounds allow
the designer to create even the ecologies that exist in a buildings realm (if
neon pink plants allow a site to further accentuate a concept, then why not?). Furthermore, the architect can begin to
design optimal atmospheres to embrace a building, such as a red sky or a
weather phenomenon that is beyond our known world (Gears of War II, Razor Hail). Ultimately, the role of the architect (with
exponential evolution in technologies) could be to design utopian worlds to
benefit everyone’s desires and needs. They
could manifest an ideal geological and climatic world in which playtested
buildings could reside to please the masses.
As a final comment to this opinion, I am not saying in any
way that the design process involved in architecture or video game engineering
is superior to the other. I just believe
that a perfect merge of the two could (in my opinion) benefit one another in
some way, shape, or form. But, as an
architect, imagine the ability to have full creative control in the realm of
the virtual reality. Without worldly
limitations/ geographies/ ecologies/ species/ climates, the end creation could
be something to inspire designers of the future to manifest as a reality. Below is the outline and visual powerpoint (can't upload powerpoints) I
gave to my classmates on the subject. I
hope you all enjoy, and ponder this idea constructively.
One last note. In this assignment, the research I uncovered allowed me to lock in my personal pick for favorite game of all time...Portal!! Not only is the architecture within the game fluctuating around bent laws of physics, but the architecture itself is cognitive in though process(GLaDOS)!! Spaces that manifest themselves into what they feel is optimal to achieve a task...so sweet...so futuristic...a reality within grasp I hope.
Intro:
Architect’s
design approach
-
Top-down design: Architect looks down on a site plan and
documents various aspects of it. After
designing a geometric parti shape, special program begins to occupy the void,
generating the two-dimensional plan and section drawings.
-
Buildings are not
seen from above or in section or plan.
They are experienced by individuals.
Game
design approach
-
Bottom-up
(user-up) design: The designer begins
with a game narrative or actions that the player will follow while playing the
game. Then he designs a set of worldly
rules, spaces, and objectives that will facilitate these actions.
-
This is
accomplished by utilizing three systems in the game design industry:
o
Mechanics: often referred to as “designing by verb”
o
Motif: created from a narrative written by the game design staff, or from a
popular narrative setting (I.E. World War II)
o
Playtesting: players are brought in from the outside the
development team in order to play levels of a video game to negate or confirm
the effectiveness of their experiential and spatial qualities (the games
provocative emotions)
In what way could incorporating these design ideas in
architecture be beneficial?
Architecture types in games:
-
Objective: a structure has a net value about it such as
in Star Craft or Age of Empires
o
Examples of said
structures…
-
Spatial: a more common approach in today’s gaming
society. Creating a world in which a
first person view can provoke emotion through exploration and experience.
o
Segue into
examples…
Replicated Realities:
mostly motif based design due to any number of real world based
narratives.
-
Examples:
o
Assassin’s Creed
series
§
City designs
forged from past plans from such architects as Michelangelo
o
Grand Theft Auto
§
Each game within
the series is based upon a major, crime fueled city in the United States
o
Sporting games
(Madden, MLB 2K11, NBA All-stars, etc…)
§
Carbon copies of
existing stadiums
o
Other Examples:
§
Spider-man 2
§
Call of Duty
§
Medal of Honor
Atmospheric Character:
Explorations in virtual architecture, when led by inspired artists,
prove to move in quantum leaps toward an experience so involving that it breaks
through previous attempts at suspending our disbelief and reality.
-
Holds very
closely to the motif aspect of game design.
It uses an in depth narrative, in the sense of an architect, as a site
plan for an overall design.
-
Importance of
playtesting (revisited)
o
Based on the
determined game narrative, players decide whether the atmosphere portrayed in
game play successfully follows the overall concept. If not, the player notes what did and did not
work in the trial, so that the designer may go back into the model and quickly
edit the problem areas.
-
Examples:
o
Portal/ Half Life
§
Game plot
§
Game design: All by architects
·
Bottom-up
(describe through models)/ top-down (how so?.. puzzle tools set the site
foundation)
§
New Architectural
concept (structurally and with nudge design)
·
The atmosphere is
a thinking being trying to kill you through spatial and verbal manipulation
·
No longer does
the player HAVE to go from point A to B, but wants to go from A to B (new age
linear game design [mechanical])
o
Gears of War
series
§
plot
§
Architectural
atmospheric emotional setting (post apocalyptic modern gothic style)
·
Epic scale and
emotion portrayed through artistic design
§
Links to Portal’s
idea of a harmful atmosphere
·
Krill (death by
night)
·
Razor hail (death
by weather)
·
Living
surroundings (worm stomach level)
·
Similar concepts
found in earlier game designs such as God of War
o
Halo series
§
plot
§
Architecture seen
from all scales (viewed from all angles)
·
Brutalism style
architectural design at “small” scale
·
The world itself
is architecturally designed to be viewed from all angles
§
Architecture
serves greater purpose in overlaying narrative
·
Becomes one of
seven rings to form a galactic scale weapon
o
Bioshock
§
plot
§
Atmosphere does
not act, but is
·
Slight tie into
replicated reality design (1930-40’s art deco)
§
Creates an ideal
atmosphere for the presented narrative (dystopian horror)
·
Atmospheric
character formed through creative use of light, sound, scale, location, and
moral quandaries
o
This then turns
the atmosphere into a philosophic character
§
Philosophic
design
·
Achieved through:
o
Narrative setting
§
Inspired by Ayn
Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and the dark portrayals of Stephen King
o
Art deco dystopia
style (metaphor for fallen perfection[Atlantis])
o
Subconscious
directional nudges (still feels like free roam)
o
Moral quandaries
built in to determine story direction
Overall recap of playtest importance in architectural
design
-
Design for
experiential qualities alongside objective form
o
Ensures
population approval of design before built (prevents failures?)
§
Holds designer’s
artistic portrayal while still pleasing people (video game popularity)
o
Involves clients
and bystanders in design process (good or bad?)
o
Allows architect
to see project in first person view in any worldly scenario (weather
conditions, day lighting [or lack thereof], site adaptability, etc…)
If Architects learn to design as video games do, what
will be the next level for future architecture?
-
Atmospheric and
spatial success on a large scale (block, city, state, country?)
-
Design of custom
site and vegetation to fully accent a structure?
-
Creation of an
ideal climate and surrounding topology to further accent?
-
Manifestation of
entire utopian worlds that meet full aesthetic and functional needs of the
human race through “playtesting?”
