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ii DYSTOPIC BRUTALISM: EXPLORING CONTROL’S APPROACH TO WORLD BUILDING ABSTRACT While the topics of Brutalism, world building and dystopias have been researched independently, they have yet to be analysed merged in the form of a video game. In 2019 Remedy Entertainment published their newest game, Control. The dystopian narrative and strong emphasis on architectural world building arguably crowns this game the culmination of the aforementioned themes. Befittingly, Control serves as the main subject matter of this research, where the main question ‘How does Control use Brutalism to build a dystopian virtual world?’ Is answered through an inductive methodological approach of qualitative directed content analysis strongly guided by existing theory, to examine a multilateral data sample comprised of game reviews, gameplay footage and media interviews with Control’s developers. Three general themes were identified as all-encompassing overarching themes relevant to the research question; world building & architecture, science fiction & dystopias and mechanics & technology. By way of thorough analysis of the findings it was uncovered that to build a dystopian virtual world, Control makes use of a combination of firstly, Brutalist architecture for its aesthetic and narrative qualities to enhance storytelling and immersivity. Secondly, dystopian science fiction elements visualised through a mixture of observable and narrative paranormal events, implicit references to dystopian pop culture and dehumanising architecture. And thirdly, in ways augmenting aforementioned aspects, an incorporation of game mechanics such as a forced third person view, complicated interactive map design and realism-enhancing ray tracing technology. Concludingly, in terms of theoretical implications, this study’s findings simultaneously subscribe to and contest existing theories on the topics. They demonstrate studied concepts being employed in unison in the Brutalist construction of the Dystopian world of Control, however also highlight a lack of focus on the role gameplay mechanics play within the context of architectural world building. Finally, limitations relating to the qualitative approach of this research are discussed and possible future research suggestions are provided. Topics of interest include the resurgence of Brutalism’s popularity in relation to modern media such as photo sharing platform Instagram, players’ awareness and interpretation of architecture in games, and lastly, an exploration of possible demand for a novel form of video game where the virtual space itself serves as the main experience. KEYWORDS: Brutalism, Control, Worldbuilding, Architecture, Videogames iii Acknowledgements I want to thank firstly my father, Predrag, who merrily introduced (reluctant) me to the architectural style of Brutalism through a barrage of information on everything to do with the ideologies underlying it. I suppose his knowledge on the topic at least in part stems from his upbringing in Belgrade, where his father, Cvetan, lead numerous Brutalist construction projects. He truly is a walking Wikipedia and if you’re able to evade the countless trivialities he spews out, one might even learn something from him :P I also want to thank my mother, José who (forcibly) initiated our brainstorm sessions, ultimately resulting in the research topic of this study. Aside from facilitating a seemingly inexhaustible supply of tea over the past months, she also motivated me to confront my worst character traits and without her I would not have finished this paper with as much joy as I did! Lastly I want to thank my supervisor Leandro who (I must shamefully admit) positively surprised me in his formidable ability to provide constructive feedback and encourage improvement. Unfortunately we only got to experience a single physical classroom meeting due to a pandemic, but that one game of Overcooked was the most fun I had in my 3 years of IBCoM (the rest were enjoyable too). Thanks Leandro :) While I have observed both in real life and in the online sphere that Brutalism is generally unpopular for its “commie blocks aesthetic”, “smudgy concrete” and “cold, dehumanising nature”, I truly believe one can come to appreciate this architectural style, if not for its appearance, then for its daring utopian ideals and the distinct footprint it left on our contemporary cities. iv Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ 2 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Relevance ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Outline ........................................................................................................................... 3 2. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 World building & Architecture ...................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Brutalism & Science fiction/Dystopias .......................................................................................... 8 2.3 Architecture & Video games Historically ..................................................................................... 10 2.4 Interim Summary ......................................................................................................................... 12 3. Method .............................................................................................................................................. 15 3.1 Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 Sampling ...................................................................................................................................... 16 3.3 Operationalisation ....................................................................................................................... 18 3.4 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 18 3.5 Validity and Reliability ................................................................................................................. 20 4. Results ............................................................................................................................................... 22 4.1 World building & Architecture .................................................................................................... 22 4.2 Science fiction & dystopias .......................................................................................................... 27 4.3 Mechanics & Technology ............................................................................................................ 33 5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 40 5.1 Thematic conclusions .................................................................................................................. 40 5.2 Theoretical implications .............................................................................................................. 42 5.3 Limitations, societal implications and future research suggestions ........................................... 44 Appendix A ............................................................................................................................................ 46 Figure 1. Coding Frame ...................................................................................................................... 46 Appendix B ............................................................................................................................................ 47 Table 1. Coding Table ........................................................................................................................ 47 Appendix C............................................................................................................................................. 49 Collected Data ................................................................................................................................... 49 References ............................................................................................................................................. 50 iii 1 1. Introduction Over the past decade the architectural style known as Brutalism has demonstrated a surge in popularity as evidenced by statements from Mould (2016), Saval (2016) and Blanthorn (2018). At least in part fuelled by the evolution of social media, as described by Henley (2017), this dystopian style of architecture has ultimately found its way into the realm of video games with the introduction of Remedy Entertainment’s Control (2019). Me having heritage in what is arguably the Brutalist capital of the world, Belgrade, together with a personal interest in Brutalist architecture and its links to dystopias in popular culture (Avgitidou, 2008; Saval, 2016), and being a lifelong gamer served as primary motivators in my pursuit to answer the question ‘How does

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