Potentialities (and limitations) of virtual immersive technologies: towards a Tetradimensional Urbanism

Abstract

The ubiquitousness of virtual immersive technologies is contributing to changing our sense of privacy and intimacy, blurring the split between private and public, domestic and urban spaces. On the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has propelled forward their use and, on the other, initiatives such as exhibitions and conferences staged in virtual and digital environments have given us the opportunity to interrogate architectures role in shaping the world today. Briefly going through some of the most important events which have posed the disruption of the traditional space of the house and the complex interaction between (domestic) architecture and (social) media, while analysing some suitable case studies of contemporary curatorial practices, the paper pretends to explore the emergence of new ways of living together which have a deep impact on domestic spaces and social relationships. The shift from a global village to a global home questions concepts like buildings, ownership, privacy, intimacy, while readdressing, at the same time, the simple truth that - even in digital worlds and precisely because of their three-dimensional status (physical) space still matters. For this very reason virtual immersive technologies have become of architectural concern, leaving open the question of whether and how this additional layer superimposed to current domestic and urban models could improve our habitat on an equal footing.