ARCHITECTURAL IMAGERY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: “NEW SPECTACLE” AND CYBERPUNK

Abstract

The development of new information and communication technologies not only offered architecture new tools, but also largely changed the very content of architectural imagery. One of the sources of new artistic images of modern megacities has become the virtual world of computer video games. The purpose of the article is an attempt to study changes in urban spaces under the mutual influence of urban planning, architecture and the virtual environment of computer games. This work examines in more detail the influence on the artistic imagery of modern architecture in such areas as cultural trends generated by information, communication and virtual technologies and the “game design” of computer games, and also examines such a phenomenon as cyberpunk. Several sources of visual imagery of this trend have been identified, including cinema and stylistic trends born in the twentieth century (brutalism and metabolism), as well as the urban aesthetics of eastern metropolises with their mixture of different cultures, high technological development and high building density. The author defines the characteristics of cyberpunk architecture and provides examples of real architectural objects that can be attributed to this direction.