We are living in a media ecology. I believe digital media can be a powerful tool to understand the spatial contexts we inhabit. Games, as a medium for exploring architecture and gaining new insights, are particularly compelling—especially due to the freedom and authority they offer through the manipulation of game rules.
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Game engines allow us to simulate urban walks by controlling clipping planes of 3D-captured Google meshes. This opens up new ways to explore how different spatial configurations—drawn from three distinct cities—can engage in a dialogue together.

We, human beings, are naturally moving creatures. I believe we are in a constant silent dialogue with the space around us. In contrast to verbal communication, body gestures are universal, subconscious, and deeply wired into our behavior. A simple nod, for example, can convey countless meanings depending on context—yet we intuitively understand each other through it.

I believe the same principle applies to walking through space. A casual, seemingly random walk in a city can reveal much about its history, ethics, and values. In this sense, our silent spatial dialogue is deeply rooted in motion.
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The Silent Spatial Dialogue is an investigation into how we gather meaning from space and the built environment. Within the framework of media ecology, this dialogue emphasizes interaction and the manipulation of digital geometrical data—exploring what these forms can express, how far they can be transformed, and whether they can truly represent real space.

This investigation is demonstrated in three steps:

FIRSTLY, we begin with an individual silent dialogue with three different cities (Ghent, Belgium – NYC, USA – and Kyoto, Japan). The goal is to reach a non-verbal story about each city individually.

SECONDLY, using the power of digital mediums (Unity 3D, C#), we smash these three unique individual stories together—simulating how they might morph into a collective spatial dialogue.

THIRDLY, the part where I can say I found my hybrids—by using the immersiveness and interaction of media ecology with a VR set, I simulate a manual morphing experience.

Building the city in VR