A New Player Has Entered the Game

Gaming tropes as a harbinger of architectural praxis

Vincent Hui1, Tatiana Estrina2, Alvin Huang3 1,2,3Ryerson University 1,2,3{vincent.hui|testrina|alvin.huang}@ryerson.ca

Video games as a medium for entertainment have evolved overtime to become impactful and relevant in current culture, industry, and education. Although architecture is a cultural commodity that has been present since the dawn of civilization, within the span of less than 50 years, video games have had an incredible impact on architectural praxis. This paper posits a dyadic relationship between computer games and architecture, exploring the influences video game design attributes have had on nascent designers within the industry. This paper documents a case study examining architectural students' studio projects from Canada's largest architecture program, identifying the influences of video games that emerge within their designs. The paper discusses the effect video games have made on architectural education through passively impacting current pedagogical practice, design tendencies, and inevitably molding the architects of the future.

Keywords: Architecture, Emergent Design Trends, Education, Gaming, Digital Proxy, Experiential Learning

INTRODUCTION also creating a cultural influence in design method- Video games have become a ubiquitous medium ex- ologies seen predominantly in student architectural tending well beyond recreational use and increas- work. Given the inherent cultural dynamic between ingly gaining traction in educational and professional architecture and cultural shifts as inculcated in cur- applications. Video games have rapidly expanded rent media, video games have become an emergent their versatility from recreational outlets for a range player in shaping nascent architects’ design attitudes of casual and competitive gamers of all demograph- and approaches. ics through to advanced simulation and education Architecture is a cultural commodity that has tools in a diversity of disciplines. As a tool for stu- been present since the dawn of civilization. Yet dents, video games are known to be a unique, en- within the span of less than 50 years, video games joyable, and effective way to learn about the con- have had an incredible impact on architectural praxis. cepts related to architecture when integrated with As a cultural medium, architecture has served as a educational design exercises. In additional to tech- milestone for any civilization’s technological, cultural, nical advances in video games merging with digital social, and economic zeitgeist. It is both provoca- tools used in architectural industry, video games are tive in its initial conception and taken for granted

CAAD and education - Volume 2 - eCAADe 39 | 123 as it becomes acclimatized in its urban context over vius lays the groundwork in defining the architect’s time. Yet as with all cultural commodities, architec- role as more than construction and building, but in- ture evolves as each successive generation creates stead demands that it is a synthetic discipline. This a future that is literally and figuratively built upon has been refined over the centuries where architects and within the past based upon current contexts have a mandate to explicitly serve as ”cultural inter- and tools. This scaffolding has rendered the current mediaries” to this era (O’Callaghn 2017). paradigm of architecture as an increasingly collabo- Within architectural praxis, this responsibility is rative discipline. That both the technological tools of why there is such a great value (both in terms of representation and the cultural concentration in the credit, time, effort, accomplishment, etc.) ascribed video game industry have concurrently evolved with to the design of the built environment, it serves as architecture is not surprising. To find 3D modeling a cultural artifact that both epitomizes a specific era, and production tools, responsiveness from artificial demographic, technological advances, and perspec- intelligence and algorithms, and increasingly immer- tive as well as establishes the groundwork for sub- sive technologies in both industries is tacit to con- sequent generations of architects. Unlike other cul- temporary practice. This conjoined evolution over tural artifacts such as music, fashion, or literature, last half century has resulted in hidden and overt con- built architectural work is a tangible and monumen- nections between the two industries’ respective out- tal medium that serves as a milestone that persists puts. well after the societies that have erected them have Architecture is both a multifaceted, creative out- come to pass. Beyond the advances in the means let that elicits delight, and a discipline anchored in of production and visualization, there are a myriad an obligation to durability and utility. It serves as of overlaps that are increasingly emergent in these a cultural medium and mediator. Architecture has convergent mediums. Under the hood, there are never existed in isolation, as social, economic, tech- also many digital tools such as artificial intelligence nological, and ecological shifts have simultaneously (as seen in non-playable characters (NPCs) in games altered and drawn from the built environment. All and in architectural simulations), optimization (such architecture, from mundane factories to grand civic as the appropriate ways to display an entire virtual buildings, reflect contemporary cultural values. Like world of highly detailed content to determining best cultural artifacts throughout history and around the configurations to adapt to variable user traits), deci- world, architecture epitomizes the zeitgeist of any sion making (including decision-tree logic matrixes given society. In his ”10 Books on Architecture”, Vit- and customization), and procedurally generated con- ruvius presents the fundamentals of architecture as ditions that empower game developers and architec- durability, utility, and beauty. It is important to note tural designers alike. that even over two thousand years ago, the patri- What is more evident is the impact of the cur- arch of architectural discourse indicated the need rent state of architectural praxis on architectural de- for a multifaceted education to excel in architecture sign. Video games are now influencing the design of on account of the various cultural and technologi- current and future architectural work. This virtuous cal shifts currently at play when describing ”the ideal cycle between these two different cultural mediums architect should be a man of letters, a skillful drafts- is not only rapid but mutually reinforcing. If gam- man, a mathematician, familiar with historical studies, ification is the integration of elements from game a diligent student of philosophy, acquainted with mu- design in non-game contexts, then architecture has sic, not ignorant of medicine, learned in the responses of progressively witnessed this in both the production jurisconsults, familiar with astronomy and astronomi- and workflows of current praxis, but certainly in its cal calculations“ (Vitruvius and Morgan 1960). Vitru- pedagogy. The authors of the paper do not contend

124 | eCAADe 39 - CAAD and education - Volume 2 that this is a widespread or direct reaction, however cuses on the influence of video games on work by they posit that there are overt and subtle conditions architecture students through several lenses includ- where video games are seeping into and influencing ing: planar emphasis, dramatic artificial lighting, the architectural design. There is an evolving symbiosis use of ornamental versus utility assets, understand- between the two disciplines. Where once architec- ing of materials and applications, and organizational ture served as a background for video games to de- disconnect of architectural designs. velop a framework in their medium, the authors con- In order to quantify the effect video game design tend that a dyadic relationship is emergent. has had on emerging designers, the studio project‘ from a second-year architectural science class of 90 VIDEO GAME INFLUENCES ON ARCHITEC- students were surveyed and compared against typi- TURAL DESIGN cal video game attributes that emerged from an ini- tial analysis of the work against gaming tropes. The Despite video game technology contributing to the students each produced two projects throughout development of modeling, visualization, and repre- their Fall semester, a pavilion and a concert hall. The sentation of architecture, the video game industry music pavilion, sited in Grange Park, Toronto, served has also proved to be a imagination and design cat- as a warm-up project to get students re-acquainted alyst. Historically, popular media have had a signifi- with architectural tools. The month-long assignment cant impact on popular culture, and therefore design, challenged the students to design a sculptural open- and video games are not being an exception (Ata- air pavilion that allows for gathering and the enjoy- man 2000). With the growing number of generations ment of music, with a focus on formal and mate- raised by the navigation of digital spaces, the spa- rial representation of the students’ architectural con- tial design within video games has begun to trans- cepts. Due to the site’s close proximity to Frank form the way that architecture students, profession- Gehry’s AGO and Will Alsop’s OCAD U Design, the als, and the general public perceives and imagines students were expected to engage with imaginative architecture. This shift in spatial understanding and ideas unconstrained by contextual influences. The design is explored further in this paper via surveying second assignment challenged students to design a of projects created by architecture students, and the concert hall or performance space for a particular au- observations of phenomena that emerge based on dience or music style, ranging from pianists to bur- architectural gaming tropes. While the authors do lesque to choir groups. Lasting for three months of not posit that these design approaches are solely the the term, students were required to design within result of video game influence, they discuss correla- a designated urban site and address various techni- tions between the two as a means to begin to exam- cal issues alongside the conceptual representation ine the influence of this particular cultural occurrence of the musical genre. The survey results are pic- on the design industry at large. tured in Table 1. While some of the in-game tropes In recognizing the duality of influences between seemed to be more prevalent in the pavilion-scale architectural design and video games, many tropes or the building-scale projects, the overall survey indi- become evident in student work. Utilizing second cated numerous instances of the aesthetic influence year design studio projects completed by students of video games in the student’s work. within Canada’s largest accredited architecture pro- Due to the students’ early introduction to the gram, an analysis of architectural design project im- software, the vast majority of student projects sur- agery and drawings in comparison with a myriad of veyed chose to use the Enscape plug-in for their vi- video games reveals a clear connection between the sualization, rather than other available engines such cultural influences of video games impacting how as V-Ray or Corona Renderer. The software uses video students are designing buildings. This case study fo-

CAAD and education - Volume 2 - eCAADe 39 | 125 Table 1 Results of various video game tropes found in the 180 second-year architectural science design projects surveyed.

game engines in order to visualize models in real- to be very unusual, not only disconnecting the in- time. Although this gives students the ability to in- terior program from the exterior of the building ar- stantly export views, the software’s gaming origins chitecturally but also frequently completely ignoring are evident in the graphic styles of the imagery the architectural boundaries of physical enclosure. This students produce and may skew their design and vi- leads to the occurrence of two formal discrepancies sualization sensibilities towards those discussed, po- within video game design; the disconnect of enve- tentially distorting the results. lope from internal spaces and the disengagement of utility from spatial organization. Organizational Disconnect Due to the non-physical constraints imposed on When building design process occurs in plan, design- digital spaces designed for games, many in-game ers closely examine both spatial relationships in pro- models do not abide by the external envelopes for grammatic terms and scale of rooms in relation to the design of interior spaces. One such example is the human body. Here, designers begin to cross an- the game Control (505 Games, 2019), which was dig- alyze how visitors will feel when inhabiting spaces itally reconstructed by Extra Office to examine the and begin to tweak spatial qualities in both section spatial relationships to the brutalist designs featured and plan drawings, all the while examining the per- in the game. The 3D spatial arrangement proved that spectives of the spaces. Modern architectural design despite its fidelity to the architectural style and the focuses on the expression of the functional program numerous successes with regards to the architectural architecturally, signaling the activity from within the design of the game, a large portion of the spaces do space to the building’s exterior. Video games on not fit within the main building’s envelope (Figure 1). the other hand, are generally not physically occu- According to the reconstructed model of the levels, pied by the player (apart from virtual reality games) the game’s interior spaces not only venture outside and instead serve as a contextual background for the of the building’s exterior boundaries but also do not game’s action and narrative. In addition, video game fill the entirety of the volume of the building (Scav- designers are unconstrained by boundaries of phys- incky 2020). A similar occurrence can be found in ical space. The combined lack of these constraints other games, such as The Path (Tale of Tales, 2009) leads to video game interiors and floor plan designs where the vast interior spaces within ‘Grandmother’s

126 | eCAADe 39 - CAAD and education - Volume 2 Figure 1 Reconstruction of volumes in Control (left) (Scavincky 2021). Impossible interior spaces in The Path (right). Figure 2 Student projects exemplifying exterior formal gestures with little ramifications inside Figure. 3 /Animal Crossing/ (left, middle) and /Sims 4/ (right) exemplifying the perimeter utility phenomenon. Figure 4 Projects exhibiting ‘plan Tetris’ approach, with programmatic elements on the perimeter leaving central empty areas. Figure 5 Student project designed in three-dimensions (left), projects emphasizing planar nature of surfaces (center, right). Figure 6 /Cyberpunk 77/, /Hitman/, and /Star Wars Battlefront 2/ gameplay images showcasing the exceedingly reflective or glossy materiality.

CAAD and education - Volume 2 - eCAADe 39 | 127 House’ cannot possibly be confined within the small currence among the concert hall projects, with 51% forest hut that is presented from the exterior. of the projects exhibiting these traits. A manifes- This phenomenon emerges frequently in archi- tation that is also termed ‘plan-Tetris’ sees the stu- tectural design, with many architects known for final- dents place all of their programmatic elements on izing their formal design before thinking about inte- the perimeter of the building envelope, leaving them rior programming. While leading to fascinating ex- with large open volume in the center. This leads terior geometries and unique architectures, this ap- to large open spaces that are disproportionate from proach frequently does not lend to functional or in- the program requirements for the building, which habitable spaces. Among the projects surveyed in becomes problematic for the occupants. Students this study, 25% had an envelope disconnected from have the tendency to place ‘lounges’ our ‘breakout the interior spaces. Two of such projects are pictured rooms’ in leftover floor areas, such as in Figure 4, in Figure 2, representative of the tropes that students which tend to be more intimate private spaces in fell into. The first project, with a Voronoi-covered the building and do not function well in large echo- veil overtop of a rectilinear building, exemplifies the ing volumes. The furnishing of awkward spaces is students’ desire to present ’innovative’ forms largely only made more accessible to students with available without any rationale. Rather than designing an or- tools and more importantly, an unfortunate precon- ganic façade to enclose the interior spaces, the stu- ditioning from video games that furnishings denote dent designed the two elements in isolation, result- space. Occupants begin to congregate on the pe- ing in a building envelope having very little relation- riphery of the spaces making the scale of the space ship with the occupiable spaces inside. This severity unusable. Similarly, many of the student projects, of detachment is antithetical to architectural praxis. such at the floor plan on he right of Figure 4, fill the Similarly, the second project presents a façade design leftover void with a large atrium space. While atria that does not respond or interact with its interior pro- can be useful in visually and audially connecting lev- gramming. els and occupants, they do not serve a functional pur- The disconnect between utility and space fre- pose and should not be occupying much of the floor quently emerges when players are able to gener- area of a functionally programmed building. ate their own spatial layouts, such as when play- ing the likes of Animal Crossing (Eguchi and Nogami, Planar Emphasis 2020) or Sims 4 (Redwood Shores Studio of Maxis, First person shooters (FPS) have emerged as a very 2014). When engaging with architectural design popular sub-genre of video games, generally follow- within video game environments, players frequently ing the player’s character, either from their own point find themselves placing assets and furniture along of view or from above, as they shoot and battle their the perimeter of rooms while leaving the center way through the game. Typical first person shooter empty (Figure 3). Such an approach seems to be (FPS) games provide the players with a unique spa- the most straightforward method to design a room tial experience, exploring space from the perspec- to many, as it creates the most functional use of the tive of the character. Thus, the navigational capa- space. However, in most cases a large open space bilities of such games place value on the navigation in the center does not provide significant useful area within the architecture rather than isolated ‘money and instead becomes a large unused portion of the shots’ popular among the architecture community. room. This is especially true in video games, where For this reason, the FPS genre uses a unique architec- the digital occupant does not require the space to tural approach, as spaces are designed specifically to move around. be used as a battlefield. Much of the game’s design This design approach was the most frequent oc- focuses on the ground plane and objects that the

128 | eCAADe 39 - CAAD and education - Volume 2 player can use to hide and protect themselves with, since the dawn of design. From writings by Vitru- such as walls, garbage cans, and tables (Guttler and vius to contemporary architectural dialogue by Peter Johansson 2003). Meanwhile the horizontal surfaces Zumthor, materiality has been explored for its struc- themselves, especially the ceiling conditions, are un- tural capabilities and aesthetic finishes within a build- derdeveloped and largely ignored as they are infre- ing (Vitruvius and Morgan 1960) (Zumthor 2006). Al- quently within the player’s line of sight. Therefore, though many historical video games focus on accu- without the need for player interaction, verticality is rate recreation and reconstruction of the materials often left underappreciated in both the game devel- found in the built environment, games that present oper and player’s perspective. As seen in popular FPS fantastic or futuristic conditions begin to experiment games such as Counter-Strike and Overwatch a major- with the materiality of their conditions. The Assassins ity of the maps focus on fighting on the horizontal Creed series (Ubisoft) is an example of a game that fo- plain with distinct lanes throughout maps (Willatzen cuses on accurate historical representation through and Karakurt 2020). This design approach is largely reconstruction previously built cities with details pre- contradictory to that used by architects as occupants cise, from the replication of buildings to the type and of any given space experience the design at varying size of stones used. On the other hand, the Halo scales and from differing angles, forcing architects series (343 Industries, Bungie) is a future projection to examine, account for, and design every surface with explorations in their world building question- within an architectural project, rather than neglect- ing ”What if?”. The result is a world where alien and ing any they are not fond of. human species coexist, creating a built environment FPS video games have begun to instigate an ap- that surpasses the boundaries of construction today, proach to architectural design where students disre- and in these explorations is the play on materiality. gard surface design and instead focus on the con- The creation and use of dubious materials as a vi- finement and enclosure of the space. It is not infre- sual emphasis have become an increasing trend in quent to see students present empty and underde- video games, from gameplay to marketing graphics, veloped ceiling conditions despite the multitude of it has started an emergence in architectural design fixtures and systems that are generally found there in tandem. Through a comparison between various (Figure 5, left). Still, many students fail to recognize video game titles, there are several tropes found in the abnormality of a blank ceiling and instead use the treatment of materiality. The attributes of incor- it as a means to frame their rendering, similar to its rect material properties, dubious materials, and in- purpose in FPS games. A reoccurring theme among compatible material applications are very commonly the student’s projects is the emphasis of the verti- seen in the surveyed students’ projects. cal planes over the horizontal, such as in the right- A selection of video games ranging from FPS most image of Figure 5. The designer of this project genres to roleplaying games were examined on uses emphasized the wall surfaces with dark colored slats, of materiality in architecture (Figure 6). The inclu- while framing them with the continuous horizontal sion of excessive reflective materials, as well as the planes of the ceiling and floor. Rather than capitaliz- inclusion of dubious and unknown materials are re- ing on the three-dimensionality that architectural de- occurring conditions present in games such as Cyber- sign affords, the student uses the FPS design model punk 2077 (CDPR, 2020) and Star Wars Battlefront 2 to generate their pavilion. (EA, 2017). In Cyberpunk 2077, the interiors of build- ings, especially in the wealthy districts of the game’s Dubious Materiality city, are finished with highly reflective surface on The discussion of materiality within architecture has the flooring, walls and ceiling and used in conjunc- been an essential element in the design of buildings tion with the lighting in the scene. The intention

CAAD and education - Volume 2 - eCAADe 39 | 129 Figure 7 Student projects featuring materials with peculiar and unnatural properties.

Figure 8 Student projects using fictitious materials and unresolved construction details. Figure 9 Student projects where lighting was unrealistically dramatized and over-emphasized.

Figure 10 Student projects utilizing linear lighting to emphasize formal characteristics of the designs. Figure 11 In-Game captures of NPCs being used as filler assets suggesting functions in urban conditions. Figure 12 Student projects showcasing the misuse of virtual assets including furniture as utility assets to suggest function within a space as a compromise to developing an 130 | eCAADe 39 - CAAD and education - Volume 2 in-depth design. was to create a ‘flashy’ presence in wealthy districts on alien technologies and infrastructure, the fantas- where the design language followed a sleek, bright, tical approach offers unique opportunities for unre- and minimal aesthetic and relates directly to hyper alistic buildings for entertainment purposes that are wealthy districts within the game’s narrative (Scavin- unavailable to architects due to the constraints of sky 2021). budget, time, physics, and more. Video games fo- When examining the projects from the second- cus on stimulating people’s attitudes or behaviors year studio, it was found that 38.9% of students rather than understandings, thus producing persua- also used excessively reflective materials within their sive products of entertainment for interactive inter- projects. In addition, twice the amount of concert est (Bogost 2009). The result is games with worlds halls had excessive reflectivity compared to the pavil- that do not need logic but instead a fantasy to be ion projects. While some projects utilized glossy ma- immersed in. In contrast, architecture is bound by terials in similar applications to flooring, it was found the laws of reality and designs are subject to numer- to be misused more often in disregard for longevity ous physical factors that affect material choices, from in the structure to an overwhelming use of reflec- safety codes to climate to building detailing. Where it tivity in efforts to glamourize project facades and may be permissible for in-game buildings to contain spaces, ultimately falsely representing real-life mate- unspecified façade textures, architects cannot afford rials. In the examples shown of the exterior pavilion to be ambiguous in their architectural propositions. project, many instances of reflective tiling, flooring The student projects also portrayed various in- and wall textures are seen in the renderings used in stances of fictitious materials on architectural ele- conjunction to lighting conditions at night and dra- ments of focus, such as façade materiality and wall matic daytime light (Figure 7). However, reflective cladding. In the survey conducted, 35% of projects materials used in exterior structures where foot traffic seemed to showcase fictitious or unspecified materi- and weather conditions occur frequently are imprac- als. Many student designs were unresolved with re- tical due to wear over time and the requirement of spect to building construction, methodology, or as- maintenance becoming a costly to operate. In video sembly knowledge, leading them to bypass resolu- games, the thought of longevity, wear in spaces, and tion and apply ambiguous textures. As seen in the maintenance are rarely a main concern as a time- pavilion projects, various structures utilize distorted less medium is crafted to pull the user in with gaudy forms with continuous reflective materials applied as graphics, highlighting ray-trace technologies that vi- finishes, lacking precision to the constructability of sually replicate realism in efforts to enhance game- the projects. The lack of resolution from joint lines to play experiences. how materials seem to be glowing in daytime con- In addition to the aforementioned unrealistic ditions spawn confusion in the students’ design in- material properties, unspecifies or entirely fictitious tentions (Figure 8). Among the concert hall projects, materials permeate video game architecture. This many designs similarly glossed over some material phenomenon also emerges from games’ atheistic identification. In many cases, floor and ceiling ma- culture, as computer games are freed from the need terials were omitted, with students placing more at- for constructability. Most prevalent in games pro- tention on the walls. In the third project pictured in jecting future urban conditions, such as in Halo 4’s Figure 8, the student went as far as applying a black forerunner alien architecture. It is evident that in and white pattern to the interior walls of the lounge these designs, dubious materials and questionable space and on the glass, causing much confusion for structural assemblies are made obvious, even occa- viewers and occupants alike. Moreover, an exterior sionally glowing, reflecting their surroundings, and view of the same project reveals a discontinuity in floating (Figure 9). As Halo 4 is a video game based the material finish, suggesting an unresolved appli-

CAAD and education - Volume 2 - eCAADe 39 | 131 cation of the material in efforts of drawing interest in predominated by the Hollywood Illusionistic conven- the space. The use of the graphic applique becomes tion of motivated lighting (Brand and Knight 2003). a compromise to visually occupy unresolved spaces This desire to bring emphasis to one’s project within the design. Rather than emphasizing the spa- permeates through the surveyed students’ work, tial and tectonic components of the architecture, the with a total of 21% of projects using overly dramatic student resorted to interior decorating. lighting in their projects. The students used lighting primarily to highlight their designs within a darker Overlay of Dramatic Artificial Lighting and dull context, similar to the tactics used in the Animation, architectural visualization, and video games proper. One such example is in the project games all engage with the simulation of lighting pictured on the left in Figure 12, where the bright- within digital architectural environments, a difficult ness of the light emitting from the building brings and critical element in the representation of spaces. additional attention to the structure. As the graphic Lighting serves as not only a way to render a space possibilities of the software supersede realism, stu- in a photorealistic manner but is also a large factor dents are led to over accentuate their designs. Simi- of the tone and the emphasis in architectural repre- larly, the central image in Figure 11 presents a project sentation. Generally, in architectural design, lighting where lighting was overused to accentuate the de- is divided into task lighting, which aids occupants in sign and its occupants. Here, in addition to the highly performing specific tasks in brightly lit spaces, and contrasting light the project does not present any ambient lighting, which provides general light within emission sources for the lights, leading them to ap- the space. On occasion, architects are also able to en- pear to appear miraculously. This phenomenon was gage with decorative lighting which operates prin- observed frequently throughout the project set, as cipally to emphasize architectural conditions rather many students fail to appropriately design lighting than serving the building’s occupants. As video fixtures within their projects and so revert to simply games are neither constrained by user needs nor throwing spotlights onto their designs in the closing budgets, they are more prone to abstain from task moments. The final rendering in Figure 11 presents lighting and capitalize primarily on decorative light- similar situation, where colored light bathes the de- ing fixtures to light scenes. In addition, many games sign, but without any discernible source. need not even explicitly depict the source of the light, In particular, a popular lighting trend seems to and instead just light surfaces with the assumption have emerged from video game architecture. While of the presence of a fixture. One such game is Need previously, architects would not use linear LED strips for Speed Heat (EA, 2019), in which the player trav- to emphasize folds or curves, due to constrained els rapidly through urban conditions. The surround- lengths, cost, and lack of purpose. However, video ing buildings are lit up using numerous lighting types game designers were not limited by these issues and and in a range of colors, which highlights the con- began to make heavy use of LED strip lighting in or- text for the player, drawing attention to the infras- der to emphasize formal gestures. Such lighting can tructure (Figure 10). The forced emphasis with light be found in a multitude of games, from Halo to Cy- to contrast the dark portions of the screen guide the berpunk 77. Recently, this desire to emphasize re- viewer’s eye and guide players through the course. veals has permeated both into student projects as This bight lighting aids the game retain its players well as professional work. Of the surveyed projects, in dark conditions, aiding users to feel engaged with 16% contained linear lighting strips, all of which the game. A study conducted by Brand and Knight, were included by students to decorate their architec- of numerous platform games indicated that 73% of ture rather than serving any explicit function (Figure the surveyed games observed high-contrast lighting, 12). This lighting technique has also become popu-

132 | eCAADe 39 - CAAD and education - Volume 2 lar among built projects, with firms such as Zaha Ha- danger of using NPCs as filler assets is the easily de- did Architects and Partisans Architects making use of ceiving nature as a method to communicate func- long LED strip lighting to emphasize their curvaceous tions of a space rather than developing a design that designs. explains the use for itself. Another misuse of virtual assets is the use of fur- Asset Showcase niture as filler in the architectural student projects With the immersion of world building in video with 21% misuse in utility assets and 10% in misuse of games, the addition of assets and accessories in decorative assets. Similar to the suggestion of NPCs, the scenes are utilized as a secondary story telling much of the student designs use furniture to indicate element often referencing timelines, functions of the purposes of the spaces rather than designing for spaces, and aesthetic qualities. In many instances the the function. The problem can be seen in designs use of assets in video games becomes a filler of space, containing vast large rooms fitted with lonesome used as a tool for spatial direction in a player’s path or desks and coined as an office space. The concert hall to dress the background set of the world. Moreover, spaces prove to be more obvious, with some fitted the interactive aspects of assets become purpose- with only chairs and tables to suggest a restaurant fully used to guide players in advancing in the game, (Figure 15). Reliance on the furniture assets to de- with a majority of filler assets used only for orna- scribe spaces appeared in a third of the concert hall mental purposes. With the development of architec- design projects. Ornamental assets are also a com- tural visualization technologies, the techniques for mon use seen in the student work and raises ques- visualization are merging. As seen from the student tions of practicality and necessity. In an example with projects surveyed, assets are used in three distinct the plants located in the middle of the atrium bay categories: ornamental decoration, assets to suggest of one of the student concert hall projects, an inten- utility, and the population of characters, or NPCs. tion of decorating with green life is common practice In Spider-Man PS4 (Insomniac, 2018) the use of however, the excessive use of greenery can be seen NPCs serves as a means for the game designers to in- as an ineffective use of space within the building’s dicate the uses of spaces and to occupy the built envi- atrium (Figure 14). Without the assets, the spaces are ronment. The NPCs largely act as a filler in the game, diminished to a room empty of design and therefore as the principal Spider-Man character is rarely able reveal a reliability on assets as a shortcut method to to interact with them meaningfully. Cyberpunk 2077 design. has a similar use of NPC placement around Night City where massive crowds are seen roaming streets with CONCLUSION many loitering without interactive purpose. In addi- The influence of contemporary cultural values and tion, the NPCs are added to fill many spaces to feel media always permeate and are epitomized in ar- more visually lively. In student projects the use of chitecture. The rapid ubiquity of video games as a people is important to showcase the scale of the de- popular medium has followed an accelerated trajec- signs resulting to the addition of people within archi- tory similar to the influences of literature, cinema, tectural visualizations. In many cases NPC placement and television in architectural design. The inher- is utilized as a filler within the structures and can be ent commonalities and intertwined nature of archi- seen in the pavilion projects where the people sug- tecture and video games extend beyond tools and gest a concert in the structure yet without the NPCs, techniques and are experiencing a symbiotic evolu- the pavilions struggle to explain their function (Fig- tion. Video games as a medium are influencing not ure 13). Throughout the survey, 43% of projects had only the methods of production and presentation of issues of NPC placement in the visualizations. The nascent architects work, but also their design prece-

CAAD and education - Volume 2 - eCAADe 39 | 133 dents, priorities, and paradigms. Through this ini- tial survey of emergent architecture student design work, the authors present a taxonomy of features drawn from video games that pervade their work. Though this is not an indictment on the value of video games as a medium, the paper presents cau- tionary observations on issues that may prove to be endemic in future praxis.

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