Architectures of Imperial Empowerment: On the Crystal Palace and Open World Games as World-Shaped Halls

History@Play Lecture with Marc Bonner, University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Germany

This talk will address rural open-world games that adapt physical-real iconic places and explore their ecological as well as ideological implications. As entertainment environments in the tradition of landscape gardens and national parks, compensating for a wilderness long lost, these games will be defined as world-shaped halls, in reference to both the structural properties of the Crystal Palace as an architectural analogy and philosopher Sloterdijk’s critical remarks on the geo-political implications of that building as an embodiment of Victorian imperialism.

Dr. Marc Bonner graduated in art history, history of the modern age and information science from Saarland University. From 2024 to 2025 he was a substitute professor for history and theory of media at the study program Virtual Design at the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern. From 2017 to 2022 he led the research project “Open World Structures: Architecture, City- and Natural Landscape in Computer Games” which was funded by the German Research Foundation. From 2013 to 2017 he was a lecturer at the Department of Media Culture and Theatre at University of Cologne. Prior to that he was a lecturer for Art History at Saarland University.

His research interests include the spatiotemporal depiction and use of architecture, cityscapes and natural landscapes in computer games as well as the very architectonics of game space itself. He addresses transdisciplinary connections between architecture, and computer games by incorporating disciplines such as philosophy, landscape theory, production studies and anthropogeography.

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