Welcome to the Liquid Architecture blog. I actually won’t use this blog to discuss liquids OR buildings, so if that’s what you’re looking for… you’re in the wrong place.
“So why call it Liquid Architecture then, you insufferable jerk!?” Hey, people have been referring to comics as “funny books” forever, and they’re usually neither funny nor books. So, y’know, get off my back. But I digress.
The phrase “liquid architecture” in this case refers to videogames – or at least, the potential games have to effect us, experientially. A bit of a leap? Of course, but check this out – Johann Wolfgang von Goeth famously sad, “Architecture is frozen music… Really there is something in this; the tone of mind produced by architecture approaches the effect of music.” Lots of smart men (and women) agreed with him, and it makes sense.
After all, music and architecture are both very personal (even profound at times) labors that their creators share with the public. And while music is a “moving” art form that is constantly being rewritten and reworked (Bruce Springsteen covered Tom Waits’ “Jersey Girl,” and so on…), architecture is frozen. Not that it’s a bad thing, but architects don’t perform “covers.” The guys that designed the NYC skyline on the Vegas strip didn’t re-imagine Gotham’s iconic structures – they merely made a hotel/casino shaped like them.
I’m certainly not the first to link videogames to this chain. Supposing that architecture is frozen music, it follows that playing games is a similar experience to viewing architecture, only more fluid. Players can move through a game at their own pace (just like walking through a building or reading a book), and the experience is designed by developers, just like authors, film directors, and yes, architects. However, players’ INPUT is essential. Gaming is a truly participatory medium, and players tailor their experience within the worlds developers create. The gaming experience “flows,” as alternating pressures are applied from the developer onto the player, and the player in turn “pushes back.” We solve puzzles, defeat bosses, learn terrain, and gain the upper hand.
So there you have it. Welcome to Liquid Architecture.
