ARCHITECT TURNED XR-CHITECT WITH A PASSION FOR THEATRE
DESIGN
THEATRES AND THEATRICAL SPACES
For the past few years he has been a staple at the national theatre conferences put on by TCG (Theatre Communications Group) where he is known for introducing innovative methods for utilizing technology for theatrical purposes. This year in Miami he will be curating a full XR exhibition and will speak on a panel entitled "Other Realities: How VR, AR, and AI are Providing New Opportunities for Creatives."
The Ed Sullivan Theater for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
The Park Avenue Armory for Kenneth Branagh's Macbeth
The Poncho Forum for The Seattle Repertory Theater
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Theatre Communications Group National Conference
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THEATRE
SET & EXHIBITION DESIGN
In 2014, Alex and his design cohorts were accepted to compete in the "World Championship of Gameful Architecture." This event brought together architects, game designers, and developers in Witten, Germany for an entire week. The competition entailed designing and constructing an interactive intervention on a site to fulfill the goals of a prompt.
Alex team was tasked with constructing a space for "intercultural communication." Research showed that there was a divide between German immigrants and natural-born citizens in the area. Searching for commonality, the team discovered everyone was equally excited that Germany had just won the World Cup. Using this as a bridge between the cultural divide, the team designed and constructed an epic, 6-tiered foosball or "kickerman" table in a piazza. Within hours of the construction's completion, there were already people of all ages and cultures playing this enhanced form of the game. Click on the left image or here to view the blog Alex kept during their time in the competition. |
THEATRE
WRITING & PRODUCING
“Dystopiapiapia” was performed at the Times Square Arts Center in 2014, and he is currently writing an immersive Augmented Reality opera with composer Jason Oberholtzer for On Site Opera, where Alex is a Founding Technical Advisor. He is also actively experimenting with VR theatre and improv alongside his newest group Alive in Plasticland. They recently gave a sold-out workshop at SXSW entitled "Producing Live Performance in VR."
INNOVATION
One of Alex's goals is to heighten awareness about XR as a design medium.
This video shows him sketching a design idea in TiltBrush and then building it out in Unreal Engine 4 into an interactive VR walk-through.
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And here we have a concept design in VR alongside the live installation of colored shadows for The Tree of Codes at the Park Avenue Armory.
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Through his work, Alex has developed a reputation for experimentation and insight into new platforms and workflows.
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An expanded version of the above video was featured in the keynote at Magic Leap's inaugural conference, LeapCon.
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