If reality is a construction and architecture is part of it, then the virtual spaces of games can teach us a lot about architecture and the role it plays in and for society.

What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places over here, in »reality«?This pioneering collection gives an overview of contemporary developments in designing video games and of the relationships such practices have established with the design of architecture. Due to their often simulatory nature, games reveal constructions of reality while positively impacting spatial ability and allowing for alternative avenues to complex topics and processes of negotiation. Granting insight into the merging of the design of real and virtual environments, this volume offers an invaluable platform for further debate.

»Die Lektüre [...] ist sowohl für Game Designer als auch für Architektinnen lohnenswert und inspirierend.«

Autorentext

Andri Gerber (PhD), born in 1974, is Professor for the History of Urban Design at the ZHAW in Winterthur. He is an expert of metaphors in the context of architecture and urban design. His research interests turn around the concept of space, from a phenomenological, a political and more recently from a cognitive perspective. Ulrich Götz, born in 1971, is Professor at the ZHdK Zurich University of the Arts, heading the ZHdK Subject Area in Game Design. Trained as an architect, he discusses comparable strategies of spatial design in architecture and game spaces. He has built up extensive experience in research and development of serious and applied games. His university teaching focuses on the analysis and design of game mechanics, game concepts, motivation design, and spatial design in virtual environments.