Virtual city today. A brief note on contemporary virtual dwelling

The themes examined in this essay regard the subject of online virtual city in its multiply spatialisations and present the state of the art of the phenomenon and some interesting experiments in progress. The various declinations of the virtual city (from Active Worlds to Second Life) present us with interesting interdisciplinary workshops. Worlds to be inhabited through representations, that amplify and experiment with techniques of spatialisation, systems of visualisation and narrative methods that make use of interactivity, hypertext and simulation. My aim is to analyse the exploration and invention of a space of relation, to be experienced in multi-linearity and simultaneity, perceived through “fusion” rather than “distance” (prospective model), as part of an active fruition, far from the idea of the spectator who observes outside the scene. This short note summarises selected results from a vast work of research (still underway) curated by the author – entitled L’architettura della Città Virtuale. Rappresentazione è Conformazione – and examining the multiple declensions of relationships between architecture and digital technoculture, in relation to the representation and conformation of inhabitable online environments. ISSN 1723-0993