Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level [Paperback]

Friedrich von Borries (Editor), Steffen P. Walz (Editor), Matthias Böttger (Editor), Drew Davidson (Collaborator), Heather Kelley (Collaborator), Julian Kücklich (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2007 | ISBN-10: 376438414X | ISBN-13: 978-3764384142 | Edition: 1

<P>Computer and video games are leaving the PC and conquering the arena of everyday life in the form of mobile applications (such as GPS cell phones, etc.) the result is new types of cities and architecture. How do these games alter our perception of real and virtual space? What can the designers of physical and digital worlds learn from one another? Space Time Play presents the following themes: the superimposition of computer games on real spaces and convergences of real and imaginary playspaces; computer and video games as practical planning instruments. With articles by Espen Aarseth, Ernest Adams, Richard A. Bartle, Ian Bogost, Gerhard M. Buurman, Edward Castranova, Kees Christiaanse, Drew Davidson, James Der Derian, Noah Falstein, Stephen Graham, Ludger Hovestadt, Henry Jenkins, Heather Kelley, James Korris, Julian Kücklich, Frank Lantz, Lev Manovich, Jane McGonigal, William J. Mitchell, Kas Oosterhuis, Katie Salen, Mark Wigley, and others.</P>

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

<P>Friedrich von Borries (b. 1974) is an architect. He has taught at the College of Fine Arts in Nürnberg and elsewhere. </P> <P>Matthias Böttger (b. 1974) is an architect. He is codirector with Friedrich von Borries of space tactics, Agency for Spatial Enlightenment and Intervention in Berlin.</P> <P>Steffen P. Walz (b. 1973) works at the ETH Zürich in the Department of Computer Aided Architectural Design. At the School of Art and Design Zurich Walz is cofounder of the BA program in Game Design. </P>

Product Details

• Paperback: 495 pages
• Publisher: Birkhäuser Architecture; 1 edition (October 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 376438414X
• ISBN-13: 978-3764384142
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,204,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, bad design, October 17, 2009

By 

Edith Wharton II (DURHAM, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism: The Next Level (Paperback)

Space Time Play is a useful work for those new either to gaming or to how gaming is academically handled. Short, usually readable (though badly proofread), essays on architectural and political aspects of video games are interspersed with reviews of games relevant to the theme of the essay. These short pieces offer a good introduction to a gamut of games and much of gaming history. But I write this review not to praise the book, but to complain about it. It is one of the most poorly designed texts that I have ever encountered. Its glossy, reflective pages make reading the black, 10-point type print difficult. The gray, 8-point type print of authors' names and endnotes make reading impossible. The designer, perhaps in an attempt to look avant garde, has produced a volume that makes the usual pleasure of reading painful.