Scope Cleaver - Gallery of the Arts - Princeton University Campus

Scope Cleaver
Gallery of the Arts
Princeton University Campus
Second Life

The Gallery of the Arts is distinguished by its irregular profile, a soaring superstructure that supports and defines the light-filled interior.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

The Princeton University Gallery of the Arts on the virtual campus of Princeton in Second Life, represents the first in a series of commissioned architectural works by Second Life architect, Scope Cleaver. The building was designed to house and display works of art created by members of the actual campus community. It is located at the heart of the Princeton University region, which serves as the “Central Campus” of the various Princeton regions in Second Life.
Princeton currently owns 7 sims (65,536 square meter Regions) in Second Life, 3 full sims, 4 voids.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

This sim holds recreations/interpretations of historic buildings, including Nassau Hall (1756), Chancellor Green Library (1873) and Alexander Hall (1896), all of which house various university functions. The three buildings, that resemble their real life counterparts, were selected for their qualities as recognizable historic landmarks, and as milestones in the history of Princeton University. They have an iconic presence on both the actual campus and its virtual counterpart.
Cleaver's Gallery of the Arts is a Second Life creation.

The Arts building is distinguished by its irregular profile, a soaring superstructure that supports and defines the light-filled interior. The carapace-like framework of the building is formed of similarly shaped structural elements repeated on a precise rotation; this feature, and the rich textures that define the building’s components are characteristic of Cleaver’s work.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

A highly articulated system of tensioning cables and connecting cubes tie the superstructure together; curved and tinted glazing adds visual interest to the building, and the composition, taken as a whole, achieves a sense of architectonic integrity through the clear expression of structure, function and visual drama.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

One enters the virtual gallery via a lofty two-storied atrium that reveals both floors of the exhibition space. A flight of stairs leads to the upstairs galleries, which afford impressive views of the artworks, as well as of the interior and exterior spaces.
The Gallery also includes some exterior patios, designed for gatherings and conversation.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

The gallery fittings, glass cases and display panels that showcase art works were also designed by Cleaver. Their elements complement the building’s other details, and create a comprehensive design vocabulary. This particular attention to detail as well as the articulation of the structural integrity of the building is in evidence throughout. Each element displays an aesthetic refinement that is rarely seen in Second Life, since the native building tools are commonly employed for more summary architectural statements.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

The qualities of natural light in Second Life are exploited by the large glass wall that forms the main facade of the building. “Natural” light in Second Life is, in fact, quite counter intuitive in how it plays upon shapes, and creating effects that seem true to nature in terms of lighting can add a unexpected layer of effort and artifice to the design process.
Since users control their own personal version of the sun in Second Life, the virtual architect needs to take into account that the building can simultaneously be viewed at various times of day.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

The Princeton Gallery is well worth a look at the “midnight” setting, which reveals a structure that glows softly in the virtual moonlight. In fact, the gradations of tint on the windows are part of a remarkably clever use of the native Second Life building tools to mediate the unpredictable qualities of Second Life light.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

The eye is tricked into seeing reflective surfaces where none exist; “windows” are carefully designed to look as though they are responding to local lighting conditions, whether filtering a bright external sun by day, or containing a softly light interior at night. This attention presents the building to its best effect at all sun settings. And shadows? The Second Life sun does not cast them. When they exist, they need to be added by the architect.

Photo: Scope Cleaver

The Princeton University campus in Second Life is an experiment in how virtual environments can be used in a meaningful way in teaching and learning. The simulation is administered by Princeton’s Office of Information Technologies, Academic Services, as part of its larger mission in helping Princeton faculty members use technology in teaching, research and learning. Several faculty projects are currently in development in Second Life, each designed to take advantage of the unique aspects of virtual reality.

Scope Cleaver fashions his buildings entirely using the inworld design tools of Second Life, without relying on external 3D or drafting tools to develop ideas. Most of his buildings, he says, start with a single idea, like a seed, and develop from there by means of an exploration of basic shapes, textures and colors. Essential building blocks emerge through experimentation and manipulation until the overriding concept becomes clear. Once a shape resolves itself into a design element, Cleaver takes great care in developing an appropriate texture to suit the geometry of the piece, as will be placed within the final building. All of this attention to detail is apparent in a careful examination of the Gallery.

The effect in this building, and others by Scope Cleaver, results in a satisfying internal logic and sense of physical reality that elevates virtual architecture to a new level of seriousness, one worthy of discussion.

"Science is about describing things, describing reality . . . describing what there is.
Design is about what there should be. It’s trying to bend the world, bend the environment, to your vision."
Scope Cleaver

In Second Life’s 3D graphics, a primitive, or “prim,” is a basic three-dimensional geometric object. The terms “prim” refers to a single unit of the “matter” that makes up all Second Life objects. A “prim” is one of several 3D shapes: a box, a cylinder, a prism, a sphere, a torus, a tube, or a ring.

Site area: 2478 square meters
Prim count: 2384

The Princeton campus will open to the public the week of September 24, 2007.

Client: Princeton University
Architect: Scope Cleaver
Project Manager: Persis Trilling

Scope Cleaver also designed the Princeton You Store, named after the Real Life Princeton University store or U-Store, on the Princeton South void, and the Princeton You Store, called the Princeton Information Center, that will house live streams of RSS feeds, Pod-and Vodcasts of various university content, on the Princeton West void.
Both buildings can be purchased as a pre-fab build through Scope Cleaver’s online store SCDA. It is called the Nawstriv series.

Photo: KK Jewell
The Princeton You Store

Directly north of the Princeton University sim is Princeton North. This void sim holds installations by visiting artists and is currently home to the "FlowerBall", and interactive arts installation by photographer Douglas Story (concept, prims, pictures), musician Aldomanutio Abruzzo (soundscape), and scripter Desdemona Enfield.

Photo: KK Jewell

Photo: KK Jewell
Teleporting to FlowerBall from the Gallery of the Arts

FlowerBall is a very large, very colorful, very musical and very immersive bit of art - the kind of thing that truly is possible only in Second Life. At 120 feet high and wide, it’s huge - your avatar flies up and through five layers inside a gigantic sphere, your interaction with the layers changing the visuals, and adding new layers of sounds and music.

Listen to Aldomanutio Abruzzo soundscape.

Photo: KK Jewell

Alexander Beach is north-west of the main sim. It is currently under construction. This island will provide areas for student sandboxes and various building, exhibition, and social spaces. SL architect Scope Cleaver is designing the entire sim, which will include buildings for enclosed installations and other interior builds, an exhibition center, and structures for social gatherings.

Photo: KK Jewell
Scope Cleaver at work on Alexander Beach

A café built by SL designer Jilly Mu of Princeton Academic Services will also share this island. The name comes from an outdoor area of campus adjacent to the real Alexander Hall, a space students use to gather, sunbathe, meet, and also to host concerts and other campus social events.

Princeton East, a void sim is currently open space, but a folly/ tower/ observation point designed by Scope Cleaver is planned for future development.

Princeton Forrestal (name subject to change) will be the science campus for the Princeton sims. There will be a Science Museum on the North West corner of the sim designed by Scope Cleaver. The rest of the island will be used for a variety of needs for teaching, research, and learning in the science disciplines. The current name of Forrestal refers to a remote campus at Princeton that is a major facility for research and instruction.

Princeton OIT, north-west of the main Princeton University sim is currently being used for in-house experimentation and development. It will not be open to the public for some time, but is expected to be another site for curriculum development once the local experiments are complete.

Read about arcspace in Second Life

Visit arcspaceSL

August 13, 2007





				Features
		Scope Cleaver Gallery of the Arts Princeton University Campus Second Life The Gallery of the Arts is distinguished by its irregular profile, a soaring superstructure that supports and defines the light-filled interior. Photo: Scope Cleaver The Princeton University Gallery of the Arts on the virtual campus of Princeton in Second Life, represents the first in a series of commissioned architectural works by Second Life architect, Scope Cleaver. The building was designed to house and display works of art created by members of the actual campus community. It is located at the heart of the Princeton University region, which serves as the “Central Campus” of the various Princeton regions in Second Life. Princeton currently owns 7 sims (65,536 square meter Regions) in Second Life, 3 full sims, 4 voids. Photo: Scope Cleaver This sim holds recreations/interpretations of historic buildings, including Nassau Hall (1756), Chancellor Green Library (1873) and Alexander Hall (1896), all of which house various university functions. The three buildings, that resemble their real life counterparts, were selected for their qualities as recognizable historic landmarks, and as milestones in the history of Princeton University. They have an iconic presence on both the actual campus and its virtual counterpart. Cleaver's Gallery of the Arts is a Second Life creation. The Arts building is distinguished by its irregular profile, a soaring superstructure that supports and defines the light-filled interior. The carapace-like framework of the building is formed of similarly shaped structural elements repeated on a precise rotation; this feature, and the rich textures that define the building’s components are characteristic of Cleaver’s work. Photo: Scope Cleaver A highly articulated system of tensioning cables and connecting cubes tie the superstructure together; curved and tinted glazing adds visual interest to the building, and the composition, taken as a whole, achieves a sense of architectonic integrity through the clear expression of structure, function and visual drama. Photo: Scope Cleaver Photo: Scope Cleaver Photo: Scope Cleaver Photo: Scope Cleaver One enters the virtual gallery via a lofty two-storied atrium that reveals both floors of the exhibition space. A flight of stairs leads to the upstairs galleries, which afford impressive views of the artworks, as well as of the interior and exterior spaces. The Gallery also includes some exterior patios, designed for gatherings and conversation. Photo: Scope Cleaver Photo: Scope Cleaver Photo: Scope Cleaver The gallery fittings, glass cases and display panels that showcase art works were also designed by Cleaver. Their elements complement the building’s other details, and create a comprehensive design vocabulary. This particular attention to detail as well as the articulation of the structural integrity of the building is in evidence throughout. Each element displays an aesthetic refinement that is rarely seen in Second Life, since the native building tools are commonly employed for more summary architectural statements. Photo: Scope Cleaver Photo: Scope Cleaver The qualities of natural light in Second Life are exploited by the large glass wall that forms the main facade of the building. “Natural” light in Second Life is, in fact, quite counter intuitive in how it plays upon shapes, and creating effects that seem true to nature in terms of lighting can add a unexpected layer of effort and artifice to the design process. Since users control their own personal version of the sun in Second Life, the virtual architect needs to take into account that the building can simultaneously be viewed at various times of day. Photo: Scope Cleaver The Princeton Gallery is well worth a look at the “midnight” setting, which reveals a structure that glows softly in the virtual moonlight. In fact, the gradations of tint on the windows are part of a remarkably clever use of the native Second Life building tools to mediate the unpredictable qualities of Second Life light. Photo: Scope Cleaver Photo: Scope Cleaver The eye is tricked into seeing reflective surfaces where none exist; “windows” are carefully designed to look as though they are responding to local lighting conditions, whether filtering a bright external sun by day, or containing a softly light interior at night. This attention presents the building to its best effect at all sun settings. And shadows? The Second Life sun does not cast them. When they exist, they need to be added by the architect. Photo: Scope Cleaver The Princeton University campus in Second Life is an experiment in how virtual environments can be used in a meaningful way in teaching and learning. The simulation is administered by Princeton’s Office of Information Technologies, Academic Services, as part of its larger mission in helping Princeton faculty members use technology in teaching, research and learning. Several faculty projects are currently in development in Second Life, each designed to take advantage of the unique aspects of virtual reality. Scope Cleaver fashions his buildings entirely using the inworld design tools of Second Life, without relying on external 3D or drafting tools to develop ideas. Most of his buildings, he says, start with a single idea, like a seed, and develop from there by means of an exploration of basic shapes, textures and colors. Essential building blocks emerge through experimentation and manipulation until the overriding concept becomes clear. Once a shape resolves itself into a design element, Cleaver takes great care in developing an appropriate texture to suit the geometry of the piece, as will be placed within the final building. All of this attention to detail is apparent in a careful examination of the Gallery. The effect in this building, and others by Scope Cleaver, results in a satisfying internal logic and sense of physical reality that elevates virtual architecture to a new level of seriousness, one worthy of discussion. "Science is about describing things, describing reality . . . describing what there is. Design is about what there should be. It’s trying to bend the world, bend the environment, to your vision." Scope Cleaver In Second Life’s 3D graphics, a primitive, or “prim,” is a basic three-dimensional geometric object. The terms “prim” refers to a single unit of the “matter” that makes up all Second Life objects. A “prim” is one of several 3D shapes: a box, a cylinder, a prism, a sphere, a torus, a tube, or a ring. Site area: 2478 square meters Prim count: 2384 The Princeton campus will open to the public the week of September 24, 2007. Client: Princeton University Architect: Scope Cleaver Project Manager: Persis Trilling Scope Cleaver also designed the Princeton You Store, named after the Real Life Princeton University store or U-Store, on the Princeton South void, and the Princeton You Store, called the Princeton Information Center, that will house live streams of RSS feeds, Pod-and Vodcasts of various university content, on the Princeton West void. Both buildings can be purchased as a pre-fab build through Scope Cleaver’s online store SCDA. It is called the Nawstriv series. Photo: KK Jewell The Princeton You Store Directly north of the Princeton University sim is Princeton North. This void sim holds installations by visiting artists and is currently home to the "FlowerBall", and interactive arts installation by photographer Douglas Story (concept, prims, pictures), musician Aldomanutio Abruzzo (soundscape), and scripter Desdemona Enfield. Photo: KK Jewell Photo: KK Jewell Teleporting to FlowerBall from the Gallery of the Arts FlowerBall is a very large, very colorful, very musical and very immersive bit of art - the kind of thing that truly is possible only in Second Life. At 120 feet high and wide, it’s huge - your avatar flies up and through five layers inside a gigantic sphere, your interaction with the layers changing the visuals, and adding new layers of sounds and music. Listen to Aldomanutio Abruzzo soundscape. Photo: KK Jewell Photo: KK Jewell Alexander Beach is north-west of the main sim. It is currently under construction. This island will provide areas for student sandboxes and various building, exhibition, and social spaces. SL architect Scope Cleaver is designing the entire sim, which will include buildings for enclosed installations and other interior builds, an exhibition center, and structures for social gatherings. Photo: KK Jewell Scope Cleaver at work on Alexander Beach Photo: KK Jewell Scope Cleaver at work on Alexander Beach Photo: KK Jewell Scope Cleaver at work on Alexander Beach A café built by SL designer Jilly Mu of Princeton Academic Services will also share this island. The name comes from an outdoor area of campus adjacent to the real Alexander Hall, a space students use to gather, sunbathe, meet, and also to host concerts and other campus social events. Princeton East, a void sim is currently open space, but a folly/ tower/ observation point designed by Scope Cleaver is planned for future development. Princeton Forrestal (name subject to change) will be the science campus for the Princeton sims. There will be a Science Museum on the North West corner of the sim designed by Scope Cleaver. The rest of the island will be used for a variety of needs for teaching, research, and learning in the science disciplines. The current name of Forrestal refers to a remote campus at Princeton that is a major facility for research and instruction. Princeton OIT, north-west of the main Princeton University sim is currently being used for in-house experimentation and development. It will not be open to the public for some time, but is expected to be another site for curriculum development once the local experiments are complete. Read about arcspace in Second Life Visit arcspaceSL August 13, 2007