Architecture of inspiration
The one that never fails me.
I’m back from my beach vacation in Bar, Montenegro, where I spent some of the most quality time in my life by resolving to make no more than 2 decisions per day: where to go for dinner and which ice cream flavour to pick.
One of the best decisions I’ve made, ever. 10/10.
So, I put aside my immediate desire to write you a longer email with an important announcement and decided to share exactly one thing: one of my favourite sources of inspiration that I’ve been coming back to since 2008.
I’m talking about the “Psycho Buildings: Artists Take On Architecture” exhibition I saw at Haywards Gallery, London.
When designing and writing an interactive story, I try to think of it as a spatial experience, even if it’s a mobile-first branded game. Because the person holding that small screen brings in a context — and I can use it, influence it, make the player (re)consider it as part of my narrative.
Whenever I’m stuck or just feel that my narrative design needs something else, je-ne-sais-quoi,“Psycho Buildings” reminds me that I can play with scale, making that small screen feel large; deprive the player of the use of one of their senses and make them fly blind (or touchless); I can turn things upside down and inside out — or simply let my audience fulfil their childish fantasy of paddling in a boat on top of a skyscraper (hint: it’s about the fantasy, not the skyscraper).
It works with text, story flow, environment design, sound, edit — whatever you want to apply it to. It makes you feel weird and confuses mind, which, to my opinion, is exactly the thing great art is supposed to do.*
Related reading:
“The Multisensory Museum” by Nina Levent & Alvaro Pascual-Leone
*I’m referring to this lovely tweet if you haven’t seen it, yes, it’s real:
