Mixed Feelings
Faculty Lead: Thom Moran
Students: Jutang Gao, Zelda Hu, Jiyoon Ko, Zoe Kuo, Seunghun Lee, Chengxiang Li, Yanyu Liu, Linhao Luo, Iman Messado, Tam Nguyen, Brian Smith, Yikai Su, Zejun Wu, Jianing Yin, Xuetong Zhai, Ruiying Zhang, Wenyi Zhang, Yalan Zhang
Are we done with remote interactions? Now that the tech giants want us to embrace the metaverse, should we reflexively reject it? Is architecture, with all of its messy materiality and embedded power relations, still more desirable than “Zoom School?” Or is there still something exciting about the possibility of mixed-presence, mixed-reality experiences? Hasn’t streaming culture proven that it organizes new audiences? Can architecture advance the radical possibilities of this new mediated world? Admittedly, we have mixed feelings. Beginning from this ethical ambivalence, students will build a critical position on architecture’s relationship to mediate interactions. Through an open-ended, hands-on, collective approach, students designed and produced a mixed-presence, mixed-reality event. Making extensive use of the new TVLab and other available emerging technologies, this media experiment could suggest new models for college events like final reviews, symposia, and lectures.
