Bartlett Research Conversations: Mike Tanaka

Towards a ludic interpretation of cities and architecture: Transcribing protests into allegorical worlds in video game

Speaker: Mike Tanaka
Supervisors: Prof. Sophia Psarra and Prof. Luke Pearson
Guest panellist: Dr. Penelope Haralambidou from The Bartlett School of Architecture

Abstract

Mass protests, such as the 2011 Occupy London or the 2013 EuroMaidan, saw demonstrators engaging in exuberant forms of play and expression that challenged government policies, exposed institutional injustices, and promoted critical political discourse among the people. Interactive street art transformed public spaces such as squares, sidewalks, and transit terminals into carnivalesque environments where citizens could freely express their political ideas and explore alternative social structures. This thesis explores how architectural and spatial practices in protests create ludic domains of socio-political expression in support of citizens' freedoms and human rights. By experimenting with video games as an interactive medium of storytelling, this research captures and reinvents protests beyond the physical realm. This thesis aims to inspire creative responses to oppressive governance, foster artistic ways of confronting power, and further the political imagination of people through allegorical transcriptions of real-world political events and protest practices in the video game world.

About The Bartlett Research Conversations

The Bartlett School of Architecture’s Research Conversations seminars comprise work-in-progress and upgrade presentations by students undertaking the Architectural Design MPhil/PhD and Architectural and Urban History and Theory MPhil/PhD. All current UCL staff and students are welcome to attend.

Held regularly throughout the academic year, the seminars are attended by the Programme Directors, Professor Sophia Psarra, Dr Nina Vollenbröker and Professor Nat Chard; PhD Coordinators, Dr Stamatis Zografos and Dr Stelios Giamarelos; and other PhD supervisors.

Image: A sketch of play by Mike Tanaka