Design is Power: Video games as communication tools to challenge the conventional process of public space-making
Jose Sanchez, the creator of Block’hood, director of the Plethora Project.
CITY COL[lab],CITY COL[lab], a not-for-profit social enterprise, seeks to challenge the conventional framework of public space design and city planning. We see the huge potential in using video games as a communication platform to collect data for architectural design. In the form of video game, we are providing a sustainable medium for public consultation, aiming to achieve a higher level of participation and easier accessibility for local residents.
Our practice model primarily focuses on The RIBA Plan of Work of the process of briefing and designing (Stages 1 to 3 in the RIBA Plan of Work 2013, as shown in Figure 2), with the help of high-quality renderings, we illustrate the existing borough as the main background setting of the game. The photorealistic graphics takes players into a real-life perspective to experience the game in real time. In this game, players are encouraged to demonstrate the immersive design proposals; to envision the public open space-making by manipulating the architectural elements and composed toolkits; to discover the implications and fulfilments of spatial design as well as city planning.
Game Guideline: How to play CITY COL[lab]
Stage 1: Preparation & Initial Consultation
During the preparation stage, each resident in the borough will receive an invitation from the local council via Royal Mail, this will contain a username and password to login to game centre, this will activate the account and unlock the map of the neighbourhood that they are currently living in. Afterwards, players are encouraged to draw their original ambitions and expectations of the public space in an empty plot. Players can even imagine functions and programs of the buildings according to their real needs.
After collecting and analysing the fragmented drawings by players, architects will collaborate with in-home game engineers and data analysts. This collaboration will transform players’ preferences into architectural objects that can later use in the game. For example, modular building forms, columns, walls, windows, stairs, benches, chairs, lamps, and trees, etc. All these elements will be saved into an online data library we called the ‘warehouse’.
The first stage is based on open-source imagination and consultation. This will outline a basic guidance to the players for the next stages. Plus, pre-planning and constructing the warehouse also increase the likelihood of finalising the proposal in the near future.
Stage 2: Concept Design
Stage 2 of the game is positioning the designed elements from stage 1. Players can decide where to place benches, where to plant trees, the material and texture of the wall as well as the program that they are eager to engage in a specific public space. The styles and forms they like will also contribute to the proposal as a whole.
More specifically, each public space has a limited response time. Players can always save the draft into their private account. Our powerful privacy control will protect the players’ designs as a secret; we will never collect the data and personal information from the draft box. However, it is better to finish the same proposal within 90 days so that players can move on to the next plot. Once the player completes a design proposal, he/she can upload to the drive and share it to the gameplay community. Our data analysts will collect all these design ideas as soon as possible and analyse the players’ feedback thoroughly.
This stage requires more detailed design ideas. Residents will be entertained by playing the game and doing the design at the same time.
Stage 3: Developed Design & Further Consultation
After evaluating all the design concepts proposed by game players, architects will then focus on optimising the proposals with their professional knowledge. In response, we will release the newest version on a weekly basis to the public officially. All the players can check the weekly update and leave a real-time comment relating to the final outcome. Moreover, players can express their attitudes through the smiley face if they appreciate the proposal. Conversely, they can press angry faces when they dislike the proposal. With all the game engineers and data analysts co-operating closely with the professional architects from our team, we will evaluate every feedback carefully and modify the proposal based on players’ comments.
When a design proposal reaches its end, we will launch the final version to the public via the gaming platform. Players can archive the final proposal into their private account. At the meantime, we intend to construct a City Archive by selecting the most popular proposals (ranked by the smiley faces) and post them on the newsfeed on a weekly basis.
The third stage will never be the end of our practice structure. During this period, our qualified architects, game engineers, data analysts, and all the players collaborate and connect tightly by the medium of video game. As a result of the coordination and interaction, we believe we will make great efforts and achieve our goals on challenging the conventional style of public space design.
Key Features
- Design Matters: Consider what elements are necessary and what can be improved for the current neighbourhood. Players can arrange where to place their desires even if they are not specialised in architectural industry. Every decision matters.
- Easy to Access:- Players can always enter our game using a smart phone. The more players play, the more contributions they will make to the public space-making.
- Photorealistic Graphics: Photorealism takes gaming deeper, and everything in people’s neighbourhood will be scanned and replicated into our game. Players will experience the same perspective as they are still in the real world.
- Multiplayer: ‘You are not alone’. Go through the friend’s list, players can invite other people to view/edit their own design details. Players can make contributions to the proposal of public open space with their neighbours whether inside or outside the game.
- Open Community: Like in the real world, players can search and review all the public space proposals from the city map. More specially, players can leave comments and feedback to the optimised proposal released by architects.
- City Archive: Our professional team will select the most fascinating and inspiring design proposals weekly and post them on the community news feed. Players can browse all the proposals and make a subscription to follow the design progress.
According to Jose Sanchez, video games could one day replace the traditional design process, “I think we’re getting closer and closer to allowing games such Block’hood to become a tool of participation and public engagement.” He believes that video games will become powerful tools to understand complex urban design issues, and to encourage collaboration between professionals and communities.
Conclusion
As a platform for collective intelligence as well as decision-making, our practice, CITY COL[lab], radically restructures the process of participating in public space-making through video games. As a medium, we aim to make great efforts to lower the threshold of participation and reinforce the transparency in the post-process of design making. As designers for common goods, we consider it not only as a game, but also a communication tool for raising the public’s awareness in participating in public affairs. The City Archive we developed has the potential to become an online platform to promote the proposal from the post-process of public consultation. Players can browse and review the posts from their archive for educational purpose, bridge the gap between games and public space-making, professionals and local residents. We believe that with this platform, we can breakout the conventional boundaries and make our built environment better.
