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Designed as a comprehensive resource on spatial thinking, experimental pedagogy, and academic practices, this archive serves as a record for reference and critical analysis. 

More than a traditional institutional repository, it is envisioned as an "Archive of Ideas," structured to mirror the conceptual and intellectual framework of SEA. The platform captures specific engagements, explorations, and pedagogical reorientations, expressing the school's distinct set of practices constituted by its students and teachers. 

The collection encompasses intellectual articulations—from course books and objectives to studio briefs and lectures—alongside a  documentation of student work, field studies, and thesis projects. Through this structure, the archive navigates complex inquiries into typologies, ontologies, and genealogies, while exploring themes of environment, urbanisation, futures, and ethics. It serves as a space for rethinking geographies and histories of type, offering the school's co-learning experiments and its ongoing articulation of space and form.


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Decoding environments of computer games

In other mediums
Prathamesh Deshmukh, 2024


 This thesis explores how the spatial logics inherent in video games create immersive experiences that transcend the screen, influencing player perception and cultural resonance. By analysing action-adventure games such as Stray, God of War, and Assassin’s Creed Unity, the research delves into how these digital worlds construct layers of immersion through various spatial and narrative strategies. The study utilises theoretical frameworks including perspective shifts, scenography, character embodiment, and recursion to decode how game design crafts dynamic, engaging experiences.

The research begins by identifying the spatial mechanisms that facilitate immersion: perspective changes that adjust from one-point to multi-point views, scenographic techniques that choreograph environmental reveals, and recursive structures that embed familiarity and rhythm. For instance, Stray demonstrates how rapid movement, perspective shifts, and recursive navigation create an embodied connection between the player and the virtual feline character, reinforcing spatial understanding through repetition. Meanwhile, God of War utilises dramatic shifts in scale, from enclosed, cave-like spaces to expansive, mythic landscapes, leveraging scenography and layered perspectives to evoke a powerful sense of presence and narrative tension. In Assassin’s Creed Unity, immersion is enriched through layered navigation, verticality, and the use of the crowd as an integral part of spatial engagement. The player’s movement from street-level anonymity to commanding rooftop vistas establishes a unique perspective that merges the individual with the historical and urban fabric of the game.

Beyond gameplay mechanics, this thesis also explores the cultural implications of video game spaces. These digital environments resonate with broader narrative structures, historical contexts, and cultural touchpoints, creating experiences that extend beyond the digital realm into the players’ understanding and perception of space and storytelling. The findings suggest that immersive game design techniques, such as controlled distortions of perspective and choreographed visual elements, offer insights into creating compelling, interactive environments that deeply engage and influence their audience. Through a comparative analysis of case studies and supported by theoretical frameworks, this work illustrates how these digital design strategies contribute to complex and immersive spatial narratives.




Read also under ‘Publics and Spaces’:

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Enclosed opens


Publics and Spaces
Akshada Dhamapurkar, 2021
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Urban grounds


Publics and Spaces
Alisha Jain, 2021
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Food institutions: spatial and social networks

Publics and Spaces
Chetasvi Patel, 2024
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Crowds and publics


Publics and Spaces
Gunjan Shah, 2022
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Spaces of dissent/protest



Publics and Spaces
Maryam Sheikh, 2021
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Changing publics and the making / emergence of new cultural spaces


Publics and Spaces
Neel Shah, 2022
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The architecture of public spaces



Publics and Spaces
Ritu Naik, 2021
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Architecture of repose: characteristics and perceptions of open spaces

Publics and Spaces
Rushabh Dedhia, 2019
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Aesthetics of erasure



Publics and Spaces
Sakshi Sawant, 2022
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"open" to "public" spaces in Amravati


Publics and Spaces
Sapna Chopda, 2024
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Interpretative capacities of builtform


Publics and Spaces
Shachi Shah, 2019
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Public as assemblage in Sharjah

Publics and Spaces
Tanushree Bhagwat, 2024
To access the Thesis Works, kindly fill the following form with relevant details. 
SEA Archives 2014© by the School of Environment and Architecture is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.