To Act in the Arena of Masculinity

‘To Act in the Arena of Masculinity’ is a surrealist, walking-simulator game, allowing users to experience and manipulate a series of virtual stages narrating personal explorations of Spinningfields, Manchester. The financial district typology both produces and reflects the masculine body in a contemporary arena of masculine performativity with underlying architectural strategies contributing to territories that force processes of restraint. Stemming from a research methodology concerned with the theatre of the everyday, this project is concerned with liberating the passive spectator by utilising interactive mediums, allowing users to acknowledge the covert oppression inherent in the design of the built environment through active participation.