Figure 84. Left page: Conceptual sections of the design - hardware, software and program distribution
5.3. Sections
From the very beginning the design was conceptualized in sections. Starting from the hardware and software elements and leading to program distribution, the design was conducted through cuts facing north. As a result, the complex system of layers was created, where typical levels interchange with bonus levels inside the building. The approach of sectional designs made it possible to show the variety of spaces inside the theatre and their changing character. Here, some spaces are left opened while others are preserved dark and isolated. Also, many sections exposed the variety of openings and connections between different types of game spaces, and the diversity of experiences a player can perceive while walking through the theatre. Seen from the outside, a very rigid structure of the Video Games Theatre shows only a blurred contour of the game spaces inside. Nevertheless, this unclear appearance does not completely reflect what is happening indoors. To understand the inside space, a player needs to come into the core of the building and immerse into one of the gaming paths. Thus, only in the game one can comprehend the space and many experiences and leisure activities it offers. This
way of designing was inspired by the architecture of Akihabara, where the relation between inside and outside is sharply separated, and where the inside spaces and distribution of levels cannot be perceived externally. Yet in the theatre, the staircase module, which is normally enclosed in other buildings in Akihabara and placed in front of the plot, is here fluctuating in the building and connecting all the spaces inside the core to make the program distribution comprehendible and a journey through game spaces more engaging. In the end, the sectional approach in the design was reflected in two models, where the first shows the blurred contour of inside spaces, while the second exposes eleven sections of the building. Yet, both create an intangible feeling of the inside, intertwining spaces and the sense of virtual leisure activities embedded in architectural spaces. What can be immediately understood in both models, is the position of the Lan Arena and the upper part of the core with a score room, while other spaces merge with each other creating one, blurred contour, where all the separate elements can be understood through study of each section cut separately – through a close look inside.
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