I would first like to begin by stating two things about Second Architecture: firstly, it is not the b-all and end-all of design theory. Second Architecture is meant to be one point of view, one range of choice. It is my desire that avatars take what they like and leave the rest when it comes to SA (Second Architecture) theory. Part of the evolution of Second Life is that the avatar can take on the dynamic of evolution towards something better than what we begin with when logging in. And this takes me to my second point.
Second Architecture will not function unless the avatar is willing to evolve past a prefab mentality, what I term "Avatarchitecture". The Avatarchitecture type is self gratifying and not willing to move beyond the consume / earn mentality. I understand that one of the points of Second Life is to create an environment of earn and learn. However, the massive amounts of ad fields and poorly produced prefab structures are indicative of the failure of society out of SL to come to terms with the idea that the consumer mentality has failed. I ask myself, how much power is wasted generating the cumulative areas of ad fields? Are ad fields green? Advertisers must come to terms with this fact: we look at advertising as a scar on the face of our in-world, advertisements are pollution and ugly, the high price you ask for the land you advertise on is blackmail, you are the enemy. I call on all residents to actively boycott companies who take part in advertising irresponsibly, including in world real estate agents.
Second Architecture takes the approach that to create a better Second Life will help to create a better world outside of Second Life. I believe that most people who come to play this game have difficulty at some point conceptualizing it as a game. It takes on much, much more to most people and in what I would wager than more than fifty percent of people who play SL have developed, as I have, emotional attachments to people and things in game.
My desire is that SA will not only help to shepherd and beautify locations in SL, but that in some way it will help people outside of the game as well. I understand that many of the statements I make in this paper will be regarded as inaccurate or hurtful to some; I contest however that this is so because these statements are true, and it is an inability to address these truths within one's self that makes them inaccurate or hurtful. I would hope that you would open your mind to see another way of creating, living, and healing.
Rimpoche (Rimmy) Kiama
Chief Architect, The Second Architecture Society, June 2007
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Second Architecture Theory states that builds in SL should be cohesive, consistent, and aesthetic. This runs contrary to the most prevalent architecture in SL, that being Avatarchitectural in nature.
Avatarchitecture occurs when a structure is built without knowledge or building experience and rests. More often than not, people move from owning a prefab structure to learning building through trial and error, classes, etcetera, and in this way Avatarchitecture evolves into Second Architecture.
There are times, however, when Avatarchitecture becomes dominant. Ad fields, for example, are Avatarchitecture at the extreme. The O-Sim, and orgy themed sim, is also an extreme example of Avatarichtecture. SA takes into account the surrounding simulator and tries to build in theme or in the "energy" of the sim. The Little Pine Japanese Garden is an example of this. Cohesiveness of builds is tantamount to harmony. If harmony cannot be achieved through cohesiveness of build, then it must be achieved through the framing of possible views through trees, windows, doorways, gates, et al.
SA demands consistency in a build as part of achieving harmony as well. Attention to detail is crucial. If one does not have the skill requiredto create certain details, Second Architecture demands that the builder seek out the means and ways to educate him/herself.
Ego is the enemy of a builder. A structure should be able to speak for itself. Individual effort and achievement begins by learning to basics and working up in skill. Second Architecture is about evolution, and a constant desire to evolve. The word "prefab" does not exist as a foundation but as a stepping stone. Consistency at its most refined, therefore, not only exists in the build and its elements, but in the relationship between the builder and the build itself.
The third of the three principles, perhaps the most difficult to explain, is aesthetic. Where one can learn the basics of design and structure, aesthetic is something absorbed through the skin like sunshine. Again, we turn to a structure like the Japanese Garden. Consider the elements within the garden as objects: the lanterns, gates, seating areas are used to decorate segments and force the eye toward certain views. In the same way, gates and trees can be used to force the eye. Aesthetic here defines how one uses the elements of building to create a pleasing sense of sight and sound. We can not yet taste or touch Second Life.
Certainly, each architect will have their own sense of aesthetic, and thus a different expression of cohesiveness and consistency. Thus, the aesthetics of SA change from builder to builder, and as an architectural style, SA becomes a style of evolution and change. As the avatar evolves, as Second Life evolves, so does the architecture.
This brings us to a crucial question that must be addressed. When and how does evolution take place, and how can one define lack of evolution? Who is the evolved avatar?
If a person cannot align their emotions with their lives, there is absolutely no hope of a builder aligning their prims and their textures. Fro a build to be harmonious, a builder too must have some measure of harmony within themselves. This is not a new-age born again harmony, but rather accepting the fact that each person holds within themselves secrets that hold them back from becoming, evolving, and building. Second Life has become a bone yard of these secrets. Every club, gallery, and sandbox is littered with the pain, sadness, and anger of real life lies. In order for evolution to begin, we must first settle the accounts of our own souls outside of SL.
Hence, the most important point of SA is this: Knowing when you should be here, and when you have no business being here. I have often stated to my colleagues that instead of payment info on file, residents should be asked to provide a psychologist's note before being permitted an account. The truth, however, ist hat Linden Labs has opened a Pandora's Box of sorts for many people to escape. I do not put blame on Linden Labs for capitalizing on other people's need for denial; rather I commend them for finding a niche market and making some money doing it. If this scenario were not the case, there would not be consistently more and more "residents" even though the "upgrades" seem to make it more difficult to be here. We are all here for a reason, and before we undertake building something marvelous, we need to ask ourselves why we are here.
Yes, its unreasonable to ask for mental health status to play this game, but wouldn't it be a lot quieter if we did? Lag is a spiritual issue as much as a physical computer related one.
I've heard a speaker on Linden Radio quote someone at MIT(?) describe the bonds that occur online as "emotional bandwidth". Second Architecture therefore desires to increase the "Emotional Bandwidth" by decreasing "Spiritual Lag". It is not an easy process to see ourselves as we truly are, but I do believe we are what we build. Avatarchitecture after all is the selfish need to own, to build, and to exist. Do we not already exist outside of SL? Why, then, do we need to prove our existence within an artificial reality?
Second Architecture's primary goal is to shift from selfish negative to selfish positive. If we can become the clay, we become better sculptors. If we become the fiber, we are better weavers. If we align ourselves, we become better avatars, and in fact, better human beings. It is my desire to build structure that is pleasing, peaceful, tranquil, and I hope, a reflection not of Rimmy but of the real life man striving for every day serenity in a world full of lag; the man who uses Rimmy as an avatar.
