Architecture and Videogames
This book explores and affirms the emergent symbiosis between videogames and architecture, including insights from a diverse range of disciplines.
With contributions from authorities in both architecture and videogame industries, it examines how videogames as a medium have enlightened the public about the built environments of the past, offered heightened awareness of our current urban context, and presented inspiration for the future directions of architecture. A relatively nascent medium, videogames have rapidly transitioned from cultural novelty to architectural prophet over the past 50 years. That videogames serve as an interactive proxy for the real world is merely a gateway into just how pervasive and potent the medium is in architectural praxis. If architecture is a synthesis of cultural value and videogames are a dominant cultural medium of today, how will they influence the architecture of tomorrow?
The book is split into seven sections: Cultural Artifacts, Historic Reproduction, Production Technologies, Design Pedagogy, Proxies and Representation, Bridging Worlds, and Projected Futures.
Vincent Hui is a Full Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and has been awarded several teaching distinctions across different universities. He has taught a variety of courses, ranging from design studios to advanced architectural computing and digital fabrication. A consummate collaborator, his research work and creative outputs examine intersections between architecture and other disciplines including biology, robotics, artificial intelligence, and videogame technologies. His teaching, creative projects, scholarly output, and outreach initiatives have merited his induction as a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Ryan Scavnicky (Scav) is a storyteller using memes, TikToks, group chats, Twitch broadcasts, Discord servers, print media, and the Extra Office YouTube Channel to create insightful commentary by challenging the status quo of disciplinary boundaries. He is the "Godfather of Architecture Memes" according to Architectural Digest, and recently authored the eponymous essay for a book by the renowned photographer Iwan Baan called Bread and Circuses: Rome and Las Vegas. Scav is an Assistant Professor at Marywood University School of Architecture, where he launched and now coordinates the groundbreaking Bachelors of Virtual Architecture program.
Tatiana Estrina is a designer and creative coder, currently pursuing a dual degree with architecture and computer science at MIT. Merging her interests in architecture and computer science, her work delves into digital realms, design computation, and the horizon of futurological fabulation.