GLITCH is a video game concept exploring the impact that an environment can have on those in proximity to it.

 

In response to a brief proposed by video game developer Sumo Digital, GLITCH environment was explored through visuals, physical models, CAD models and gifs (all of which were supported by sketchbooks and photography). The resultant fantasy environment also introduces elements of video game development such as narrative, mechanics and gameplay to demonstrate how the concept could be realised. 

 

Contradictory views surrounding radical architecture of the 1960s and 70s inspire the duality within the spatial design which reflects the impact of environmental psychology. Brutalism informs Downside, with reference to The Barbican Centre and the DJCAD Matthew Building while idealism influences Upside, specifically the work of architecture firm Superstudio and the Eden Project. The environment consists of a circular plan featuring four significant locations arranged from the outermost edge to the centre: the Residential Zone, Church, Tunnels and Penthouse.  Inspired by Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieuse (tellingly, never realised) the plan consists of concentric rings that divide the urban realm into zones. Reference has been made to this much disputed masterplan as although intended as a utopia it bore many dystopian trademarks. 

 

GLITCH is designed with the aim of sparking discussion around environmental psychology and social fragmentation. Via gameplay and narrative, the concept demonstrates how these can be better understood. The video game format intends to make the work an immersive and inherently interactive experience that would be memorable, engaging and accessible to a vast audience if realised.