Tag: tetris

Feature

Tetris and the future of architecture

French architectural genius Axel de Stampa created a dancing ode to Tetris (1984) with the 2014 debut of his gif art gallery Architecture Animée. The introductory image sees large Tetris piece-shaped buildings fall from a blue sky to interlock themselves with the grounded structures below. The result is a series of architectural tetrominoes that reveal an understanding of the choreography and composition of each great city. But this is more than a videogame reference, as it alludes to the need for movement in the skyscrapers and city blocks of the urban utopias of the future. There is a growing demand…
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This building-side Frogger is the arcade of the gods

As this 22-story-tall Frogger clone in São Paulo proves, major metropolitan areas are quickly becoming skyscraper arcades. Street Crosser, a game with a social cause, joins that giant game of Tetris played over Philly a few weeks ago as the two latest examples of god-sized videogames.  But this installation isn’t merely touting that Brazilians love big buildings and games. The creators at Noobware, a Spanish game studio, say the game is an attempt to raise awareness of the high number of traffic deaths in São Paulo, having you play as little old ladies crossing busy interstates instead of the customary…
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Tetris on the side of a skyscraper? Tetris on the side of a skyscraper

As part of a celebration of tech in Philadelphia on April 4th, the city is hosting a colossal game of Tetris on the side of a staggering piece of architecture. The Cira Centre, which stretches 29 stories into the night sky, will be lit up with familiar falling tetriminos.  Those famous squares, L-pieces, and frustrating “z” and “s” pieces that you never know which way to flip will cascade down the structure, which is outfitted with 1,500 LEDs. The whole thing is programmed by a professor at Drexel University, who last year did something similar with Pong. This around time…
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When the Tetris blocks cease to fall

Like many, I’ve always had a fascination with Tetris. In Indie Game the Movie, Fez designer Phil Fish says that, alongside The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros., Tetris completes the trifecta, and he’s right. There is something about the futile search for perfection in the inexorable rain of twisting polyominos that is intrinsically self-fulfilling.  But what happens when Tetris masters achieve perfection?  – – – That theme was mulled over in an illuminating article by Chris Higgins, who profiled key savants on the competitive Tetris scene. It’s a completely fascinating read: one of the subjects works at a…