Playboy vs. Gameplay
Architectural aesthetics often contradict architectural performance: the appeal of a video game is directly dependent on its fluidity, its gameplay… too-fancy graphics slow down the pace but too-simple environments take away the illusion. The perfect illusion of immersion in an environment comes from the perfect symbiosis of those two extremes; and a good plot. Likewise interesting architecture has good gameplay. It uses its limited budgets to create performances users will want to experience. It forces the architect to take stylistic and/or material cuts to stay on budget… performance overrules pastiche.
We are calling for a new vernacular, an architecture based on enthusiasm and performance rather than recognition and the cool.
Originally published in ICON magazine
Issue 404 | 2007
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