Capturing the "Event"

The "event" in gaming is a cluster of time, intentionally captured and categorized by the developer to infuse a meaningful instance around a social encounter. To the player the event is often pre-ordained upon entering a new environment, for example upon entering a large open space; the player may expect a difficult encounter with the enemy. A good "event" is often memorable and in my experience; the more dynamic the social encounter is, the more memorable it tends to be. For example playing with Dog in Half life 2 (released in 2004), was really positively reviewed for that exact reason;

This instance illustrates as well how a certain event maybe pre-ordained around a space. In this case this large open space facilitated the event of playing with Dog. This "event" is indeed a cluster of time; the playing with dog, and is memorable because players find a kinship and bond with the character Dog in the game. It also bridges the two halves of the story, hence serves as a plot nuclei in the development of the story. Hence the ‘event’ revolves around a social encounter which helps making the event not only memorable but as piece of storyline that makes the game progress.

In architecture in real life, it is indeed possible, even commendable to consider those small instances, and make them memorable for the user. One architect I have to bring forth to illustrate this is Gorden Matta-Clark, who was  “more concerned in voids, gaps, spaces, abandoned and underdeveloped places, for example, places where you stop to tie your laces and places that have a disruption of your daily movements.” (Mannino 2006) To Matta-Clark, the "disruption in daily movements" was in itself the "event," the memorable moment that gave him a sense of perhaps touch on time throughout his daily activities. Also, this goes to show how even the spaces we perceive to be the most insignificant, or unusual, can be considered and exploited to create a memorable "event" in a space. Taking this further in my research-interest, I argue that indeed an "event" is what gives people a sense of pleasure in an environment. And to highlight the difference between architecture in real life and in games, is that they don't only revolve around the type of "events" you find but also around the way they usually capture social encounters.


The difference of course between "events" in fast paced FPS and in reality, as I have outlined in past articles, is that in reality these spaces can often be revisited over and over again without a the likelihood of a significant change in the ambiance of the space. Where as in these fast paced FPS, if they are re-visited (which they really never are) they will be in a very different light, as in games, everything is made to support the gameplay. Hence, time itself serves as the difference between the type of events that happen in life or in games.

Another architect which comes to mind is Peter Zumthor, who in some of his works, really seemed to consider the “event” in order to support the buildings’ functionality. “When I concentrate on a specific site or place for which I am going to design a building, when I try to plumb its depths, its form, its history, and its sensuous qualities, images of other places start to invade this process of precise observation: images of places I know and that once impressed me, images of ordinary or special places, places that I carry with me as inner visions of specific moods and qualities; images of architectural situations, which emanate from the world of art, or films, theater or literature.” – (Zumthor) This goes to show Zumthors’ concern for creating “events” or as he phrased it “architectural situations” through his encounter with meaningful memories, gave him an urge to  install them in the buildings he was working on.
 

One example that exemplifies what Peter Zumthor is trying to achieve in creating spaces in which memorable “events” occur can be seen in his Museum of Modern Art in Cologne through his use of transition through materiality. 

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https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIVU0U-Ft3KXw7fRxuNhqamq2jpSJeZzvOceGeVH6lriDxNaNSQYKCJRQTXuM8C-Hid6nu7G3mMgt7Ygvkt20MXB8xTBhmr7SqbqFiuOVwbTL-SBVzLkFGPgzrObfGtQ8-Jv6KKpHJ5kkI/s320/Zumthor+Bregenz+Kunsthaus+Austria.jpg

http://archidose.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html

Nearly all the gallery in the museum, as dynamic transitional spaces, were very ordinary in alabaster white, as to exhibit the work in its own natural beauty thus leaving a space that is completely used to outline the artwork. Hence, in a way this illustrates how the social encounter inside the space is between the user and the artwork itself, whether this would be labeled "social" is perhaps debatable, but Zumthor seemed to design with an understanding into the type of interactions that were happening in mind. For instance, in rooms which have services and more human social encounters that take place (e.g café or even the cloakroom) these rooms are punched into the spaces with a beautiful wooden frame like the framing of the paintings on the wall feeling warm and static inside. Simply entering the spaces makes you feel like you are walking into a painting. Thus Zumthor, clearly differentiates the types of spaces in regard to the type of social interaction that is involved.


Zumthor was always big on materiality, and the human interaction with the tangible. In this case the change in material creates an effect that makes the spaces such as where hang your coat in memorable, and installs “events” in peoples’ minds that elevate the value of the environments within the museum, making the building as a whole a very positive series of spaces to inhabit. This is seen in this case, by specifically creating a difference in the language of architecture revolving around the type of encounters that are taking place; i.e human, or art-piece. Again, not all these interactions are "social," and Zumthor seems to highlight these differences through the materials.


To be frank, this phenomenon is not that unheard of. In video games, the aesthetics of the environment are often made as well to revolve around the social encounters very specifically. In the example of, playing with Dog, above, the environment was very trashy matching the aesthetics of Dogs appearance which was very make-shift. Often game-developers create an environment that unifies the social encounter with the other party in some way or another. In a like manner, Zumthor was unifying the spaces with the other party as well, the very white and bright gallery spaces to outline the artwork with which the user would be interacting and the very wooden cozy service rooms, where the users would be static and interacting with each other. All these interactions are hence perceived as individual events with which the encounter, is the main subject of concern for the designer.


Thus it seems that architecture as well as games can try to capture events in memorable ways often through the use of outlining a social encounter. Consequently, as I have said several times in the past posts; as social creatures, it seems that social encounters create plot points in the environment that give a sense of time in a space. In games, this creates the timeline of a storyline, a sense of time that we perceive that gives us a mental image of how long the game took. In architecture in reality, time can also be mentally controlled, through the use of creating these “events” through architectural language. In the case of the museum, creating spaces where social encounters occur, in a certain warm way (the texture of the wood) facilities a positive feeling around the environment and enhances the appreciation of the space. If this appreciation is "good enough," the instances will turn into memories in our minds, that will be grouped as "events" (as memories often are)...