City.exe
- Architectural Fictions in the Metaverse
with
Joana Zabielska
#digitaldesign #immersiveenvironments #extendedreality
Drawing from the theoretical provocations of Donna Haraway, the radical imaginations of Ursula K. Le Guin, and the disruptive energies of glitch and xenofeminist manifestos, we will explore how digital tools can be used not to mirror the world as it is, but to invent it anew. Working with Unity and other creative software, participants will engage in the practice of worlding—a situated, speculative, and embodied approach to imagining space, systems, and stories through the lens of the digital.
Rather than producing conventional speculative fiction, we’ll dive into the architecture of possibility: crafting interactive digital environments where the logics of urbanism and architecture are rewired, glitched, and reimagined. What does a feminist server city look like? How does a posthuman ecology shape its built environment? What kind of urban logic grows out of alien kinships, broken infrastructure, or technological refusal?
Through guided exercises in 3D scanning, spatial sound, animation, and interactive programming, you’ll build your own digital world. Unity basics will be covered, and project-specific support is offered in Blender, Premiere, and Ableton. No prior experience is required—only curiosity and a willingness to experiment.
At the end of the course, students will share their projects in a collective presentation and have the opportunity to publish their worlds online, forming a decentralized archive of digital urban imaginaries.
Joanna Zabielska is working at the intersection of digital art, design and architecture. She specializes in 3D scanning, photogrammetry and motion capture to create highly detailed and immersive environments for VR and AR. By merging real-world data with digital artistry, she enriches interactive storytelling and world-building across games, animations, and both physical and virtual exhibitions.
After graduating in Spatial Planning at the Vienna University of Technology and in Social Design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, she expanded her digital skills at Digital Art at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and at the Tokyo University of Arts. She was supported by SHIFT Basis.Kultur Wien, KÖR- Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien, MA7 Stadtteilkultur und Interkulturalität and Foreign Ministry with Austrian Cultural Forums. She is co-owner of Granda Banda OG- studio for multimedia design and developed DigitEyes, a platform for hosting digital exhibitions, supported by Wirtschaftsagentur Wien. Currently teaching the artistic project at the Department of Visual Culture, Vienna University of Technology.
www.joannazabielska.com
︎︎︎
MEDIA VR,AR,XR
︎︎︎ LOCATION Main location
︎︎︎ TEACHING LANGUAGE English, German
︎︎︎ WHAT TO BRING Laptop
︎︎︎ REQUIREMENTS No specific requirements
︎︎︎ MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS 5
︎︎︎ LOCATION Main location
︎︎︎ TEACHING LANGUAGE English, German
︎︎︎ WHAT TO BRING Laptop
︎︎︎ REQUIREMENTS No specific requirements
︎︎︎ MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS 5