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Add keywords related to your independent concept here for cycle 4.

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Will the metaverse be your new workplace?

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Will the metaverse be your new workplace?

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Wakefield, J. (2023) Will the metaverse be your new workplace?, BBC News Business. BBC.

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When we look back in 50 years' time, it is likely that the 2D internet we now all use will seem laughably archaic.

Not only will the internet likely no longer exist behind a screen, but it is probable that we will interact with it differently.

We'll manipulate objects using augmented reality (AR), explore virtual-reality (VR) worlds, and meld the real and the digital in ways we can currently not imagine.

And what will that mean for the world of work? We are already transitioning away from the nine-to-five commute, and turning our backs on the traditional office setting. This is thanks to two years of pandemic lockdowns, and a newfound love of, or tolerance for, virtual meetings.

So will the logical next step be working in the metaverse, the planned virtual universe where cartoon-like 3D representations of everyone will walk around, and talk and interact with others?

The metaverse has become an over-hyped term, so it's important to note that it doesn't actually yet exist. And even those invested in the concept disagree about exactly what it will be.

Will rival virtual worlds interconnect in a way that simply doesn't happen at the moment between competing technologies? Will we spend more time there than in the real world? Will we need entirely new rules to govern these new spaces?

None of these questions have answers yet, but that hasn't stopped a barrage of interest and hyperbole as firms see a new way of making money.

We've seen businesses opening in nascent metaverse worlds, from Meta's Horizon Worlds, to games such as Roblox and Fortnite, and newly created lands like Sandbox and Decentraland.

Meanwhile, Nike now sells virtual trainers, HSBC owns land in Sandbox, and Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton and Sotheby's have presences in Decentraland.

The term metaverse was coined nearly 30 years ago by author Neal Stephenson. In his book Snow Crash, the hero finds a better life for himself in a virtual reality world.

Perhaps the boldest move to make that fiction into real technology came in October 2021. That's when Facebook announced it was changing its name to Meta and started to invest billions of dollars turning itself into a metaverse-first firm - a vision very much led by its founder and boss Mark Zuckerberg.

Yet this huge investment has raised eyebrows among shareholders, some of whom recently expressed concern that the firm was spending too much money on VR.

And a report by The Verge website last October, which claimed to have viewed internal Meta memos, suggested that the Horizon Worlds platform had lots of bugs, and was not well used by employees.

Herman Narula, the chief executive of Improbable, a firm that makes the software to build metaverse lands, and author of a book called Virtual Society, is not convinced by Zuckerberg's vision.

"Why would we want an office in the metaverse that looks like our real office?" he says. "The whole point of creative spaces in new realities is to expand our experiences, not to simply replicate what we've already had in the real world.

"But I do think that there will be a lot of jobs in the metaverse - for example, we're going to need moderators."

The moderating - or policing - aspect of the metaverse is controversial, not just because it is technically hard to monitor potentially billions of avatars having live chats across a virtual world, but because of the vast amount of data those avatars may create along the way.

A study from Stanford University found that spending just 20 minutes in virtual reality provided more than two million unique body movement records, a rich new stream of data for firms.

New Tech Economy is a series exploring how technological innovation is set to shape the new emerging economic landscape.

Alex Rice, the co-founder of online security company HackerOne, thinks there needs to be a lot of thought put into the design of the metaverse before any firm can even consider letting their employees loose in it.

"Imagine something innocuous like a water-cooler conversation in an office," he says. "Imagine that it's happening in a fully-monitored metaverse environment - that is certainly going to have life-changing consequences.

"People could be fired outright for saying something they think is in a private, informal conversation with a colleague that is now subject to mass corporate surveillance."

Tom Ffiske, the editor of tech newsletter Immersive Wire, thinks it is far too early to start thinking about working in the metaverse.

"Discussing the metaverse is still mired by difficulties, and the definition is still tenuous and debatable," he says. "While the term itself is under discussion and ill-defined, it's difficult to say whether we will be working in the metaverse in the future."

Despite no-one being quite able to get a handle on what the metaverse is, there are some bullish market forecasts for what it may be worth. McKinsey suggests a market value of $5tn (£4.2tn) by 2030, while fellow management consultancy firm Gartner predicts a quarter of the world's population will spend at least one hour a day in the metaverse by 2026.

Matthew Ball, chief analyst at research company Canalys, disagrees - he predicts that most current business projects in the metaverse will be closed by 2025.

He thinks that firms need to reflect whether a presence in the metaverse is actually necessary, or just using tech for tech's sake.

"Not every business needs a VR headset to remotely greet avatars of co-workers, or to visualise virtual models," says Mr Ball. "Nor would every business need VR headsets for meetings. As powerful and compelling as VR is, Zoom and Teams calls offer near-frictionless alternatives that can be less cumbersome."

Tiffany Rolfe is the chief creative officer at RGA, a digital branding firm. She and some of her team have already worked in the metaverse.

The firm created a virtual American football stadium in Fortnite for phone giant Verizon during the pandemic, and they also worked with Meta to build a music world within Horizon Worlds.

"People who typically would be on a computer designing things had to put on headsets and work with builders within the world," says Ms Rolfe.

And with new ways of working comes new considerations, such as how long employees should wear a headset for. "My team had probably two-hour stretches where they had it on." she says.

The fact that people are already working in virtual reality worlds suggests that the metaverse could well have a future as a workplace, but the jobs that will exist there are likely to be very different from the those we do in the real world.

And anyone hoping to swap their daily commute for a headset will probably have many years to wait before that becomes a (virtual) reality.

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Will the metaverse be your new workplace?

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When we look back in 50 years' time, it is likely that the 2D internet we now all use will seem laughably archaic. Not only will the internet likely no longer exist behind a screen, but it is probable that we will interact with it differently.

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How to make a Monument Valley illusion using Tinkercad! - Easy -

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3bdr Seaview Apartment in La Muralla Roja,Calpe ES - Flats for Rent in Calpe, Valencian Community, Spain

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5 Apr 2023 - Entire rental unit for $179. Visit Calpe&stay in iconic post-modernist "La Muralla Roja" building by famous architect Ricardo Bofill.Newly renovated 3 seafront bedrooms apt, la...

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You Can Draw This ISOMETRIC artwork in Procreate - Inspired by Monument Valley

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- Adobe Illustrator

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Isometric tutorials in Adobe Illustrator

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- One-point perspective
- Two-point perspective
- Three-point perspective
- Impossible Figures: 3D illusions
- Axonometric Drawing

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Mission 1. To improve our sense of Spatial Relations through art-making: considering the current climate in art education, I feel this is the area we need to be better at.
Mission 2. To better educate and support beginners and intermediates in art: building a strong foundation.
Mission 3. To encoura…

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Carmichael, S (2014) How M. C. Escher's "Little worlds" inspired the gorgeous upcoming Monument Valley, Kill Screen - Previously.

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Ken Wong, who modeled puzzle game Monument Valley after the works of Dutch artist M.C. Escher, doesn't think we need more "art" games. There are plenty of niches to fill.

"I believe what we as an industry and culture need is better discussion, better ways to talk about games," the designer and artist said.

The "games as art" debate isn't it.

For developer Ustwo, one mode of communication comes through Monument Valley 's symmetry and towering design, each screen a collection of "little worlds"-microcosms surrounded by empty space, Wong called them. Escher used similar techniques to convey the images in his often bizarre lithographs and woodcuts.

"Life would be simpler if it was made up of simple geometric blocks and straight lines," said Wong. "That's why people feel so comfortable with Lego and Minecraft and why pixel art is enjoying a new appreciation."

Escher's influence is visible in countless other titles of recent years, like Fez and Echochrome, but it's also left its print on older classics like Sonic the Hedgehog, Lemmings, and Diablo II. Hidden in these ordinary games are strange dimensions: stairs ascending and descending at odd angles ( "Relativity" ), transforming backgrounds ( "Sky and Water" ), and overlapping patterns-illusions that confuse the player's perspective. Not first-person or third-person like we're used to, but something altogether different and curious.

"I also think game players like figuring out the rules of a universe, but they love finding ways to break those rules," said Wong. Escher's paintings did just this: setting up rules very clearly, and then breaking them.

In Monument Valley (due early April for iPad and other mobile devices), players break rules by doing the impossible: navigating their way through sets of impossible spaces and shapes in the maze-like paintings that Ustwo has created. Wong said he sees Monument Valley more as an interactive experience than a traditional game.

" Monument Valley 's design is intended to be very open-ended," he said. "We present a world and a journey to the player, and it's up to them to challenge themselves if they want to."

The surreal design isn't based on Escher alone. "What games are is too broad to have one idea of what is important," Wong said. He took inspiration from poster designs and low-poly 3D art, environments and objects "with distinct silhouettes" like Japanese flower arrangements, and architectural styles from North Africa, India, and the Islamic world.

Still, Escher is at the heart of how these disparate styles come together.

"Escher found a way to convey mathematical and geometric ideas to a wide audience through skillful illustration," said Wong. "He took familiar elements like buildings and birds and landscapes but arranged them in surprising and challenging ways. Having this as a touchstone was a good way to keep Monument Valley grounded and relatable."

"All computer graphics are illusions."

Those ideas seem to be why Escher's vision has guided so many developers over the years. There's something natural about the way it intersects with game design.

"All computer graphics are illusions," said Wong. "We discovered that a lot of the tricks we used to make Monument Valley were built into graphics systems all along. Escher's work embraces art for what it is-representation. The way he shows that representation is false is the same way we deconstruct game spaces and game logic."

Wong doesn't have a favorite Escher piece. His interest is more in understanding how the artist viewed the world, which is rarely captured in a single image, he said. By delving into the unfamiliar, we can change our perception of what something can be and how we can engage with it.

That's what Wong wants Monument Valley to do for game experiences.

"Examining Escher's works as a whole reveals a curious, imaginative, analytical mind and a precise, articulate hand. It would be truly magnificent if Monument Valley could reach people in a similar way."

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How M. C. Escher's "little worlds" inspired the gorgeous upcoming Monument Valley - Kill Screen - Previously

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Ken Wong, who modeled puzzle game Monument Valley after the works of Dutch artist M.C. Escher, doesn't think we need more "art" games. There are plenty of niches to fill. "I believe what we as an industry and culture need is better discussion, better ways to talk about games," the designer and artist said.

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Crooke, L. (2022) Ten notable projects by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill.

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Following the news of Ricardo Bofill's death, we've rounded up 10 stand-out projects created by the Spanish architect over his six-decade-long career.

Bofill was the founder of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura (RBTA), which he established in 1963. He passed away on 14 January at the age of 82.

The esteemed architect was famed for his monumental housing projects, which often made use of geometric forms and referenced Mediterranean and Arab architecture.

Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill dies aged 82

These have proven popular backdrops for movies and music videos, as well as photography series by the likes of Laurent Kronental and Sebastian Weiss.

Alongside housing, Bofill's portfolio spanned public buildings, transport infrastructure and urban design. He created his own office and home from the remains of a cement factory, which featured in Marc Goodwin's photography series spotlighting architecture studios in Barcelona.

Read on for 10 key projects by Bofill:

Walden 7, Spain, 1975
One of the best-known projects by RBTA is Walden 7, a giant terracotta-coloured apartment building in Sant Just Desvern on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Set on the site of a former cement factory, the 14-storey building comprises 450 modular apartments that are linked by footbridges and arranged around courtyards. Their modular design is intended to serve the changing needs of its occupants.

La Muralla Roja, Spain, 1973
La Muralla Roja is a fortress-like apartment building overlooking the Mediterranean sea. Its design nods to North African kasbahs.

The apartments are arranged in a geometric plan, connected by courtyards, staircases and bridges. The predominant bright red finish of the building was chosen to contrast with the surrounding landscape, while some areas are painted blue to blend with the sky.

La Fábrica, Spain, 1975
Built within a dilapidated cement factory on the same site as Walden 7 is La Fábrica, a complex containing the RBTA offices and Bofill's family home.

Bofill's renovation celebrates the original concrete details of the factory but brightens it with green roofs, planted terraces and lush gardens. Its centrepiece is The Cathedral (above) - a large meeting and exhibition space held in the old factory hall that has 10-metre-tall ceilings.

Les Espaces d'Abraxas, France, 1982
Les Espaces d'Abraxas is a monumental complex in Noisy-le-Grand consisting of three apartment buildings. They feature prefabricated stone and cement facades and reference baroque architecture.

The most famous of the three buildings is the Le Théâtre (above), which is a semicircular structure that encloses an amphitheatre. This has been used as a set for Hollywood blockbusters such as The Hunger Games.

Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Morrocco, 2016
Terracotta-hued buildings arranged around semi-covered arcades define the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, which RBTA won a competition to design in Ben Guerir in 2011.

Extending over 55 hectares, the university combines teaching facilities with residential units. It takes its cues from Moroccan architecture in cities such as Fez and Marrakech and is geared towards pedestrians.

Castell de Kafka, Spain, 1968
On a hill overlooking Sitges bay is Castell de Kafka, a dark blue apartment building that is built from clusters of cubic volumes that plug into central stair cores.

The cubes contain the apartment living spaces and are lined with flexible partitions that allow occupants to adapt them. According to RBTA, the building is intended to embody the ideas of the experimental British architecture group Archigram.

W Barcelona Hotel, Spain, 2009
One of Bofill's most famed projects of the 21st century is the W Barcelona Hotel, which was designed as part of the renewal and expansion of the Port of Barcelona.

Set on reclaimed land, the sail-shaped hotel is covered in glass skin intended to blend with the sky. Every guest room has views of the sea or city.

Les Arcades du Lac, France, 1982
RBTA's first major project in France was the Les Arcades du Lac, an ensemble of gridded apartment blocks with ornate concrete facades, surrounded by gardens and an artificial lake.

The studio's goal was to create a garden city, which favours pedestrians and hides parking underground. Its most celebrated feature is Le Viaduct (above), a building containing 74 apartments over the lake that nods to castles on bridges in the Loire Valley.

Houari Boumedienne Agricultural Village, Algeria, 1980
In 1980, RBTA completed a village for the government in Algeria. Located in the semi-desert area of Abadla, it was intended to encourage agriculture in the area.

The development comprises family homes arranged around courtyards and a large central square that serves as a marketplace. It is completed with the studio's trademark geometric forms, which draw on both Arab and Mediterranean architecture.

Meritxell Sanctuary, Andorra, 1978
Following a fire that devastated the ancient Romanesque Sanctuary of Meritxell - a chapel on a mountainside in Andorra - Bofill's studio was tasked with restoring the site.

The replacement features stone and slate walls that are animated by white arches. According to the studio, the redesign references Romanesque imagery to honour the original structure.
The imagery is courtesy of Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura.

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Ten notable projects by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill

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Following the news of Ricardo Bofill's death, we've rounded up 10 stand-out projects created by the Spanish architect over his six-decade-long career.

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Baratto, R. (2021) Squid Game: Minimalist chic and spaces of oppression, ArchDaily. ArchDaily. Available at: https://www.archdaily.com/969927/squid-game-minimalist-chic-and-spaces-of-oppression (Accessed: January 12, 2023).

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People die in Squid Game. Lots of people. But while violence is one of the most appealing ingredients for the success (or failure) of a television show, that's not the only reason the series has become so popular worldwide. Pop culture, mesmerizing scenarios, and a plot full of social metaphors all contribute to this.

Available for streaming since September 2021, the Netflix series Squid Game "will definitely be our biggest non-English language show in the world, for sure," and has "a very good chance it's going to be our biggest show ever," according to Ted Sarandos, the platform's co-CEO and Head of Content. The survivor thriller by director Hwang Dong-hyuk tells the story of a group of 456 people who are deeply in debt competing to win 45.6 billion won (around €33 million, $38 million) in prize money.

Text contains spoilers.

The participants are kidnapped, and when they regain consciousness, they find themselves in a large industrial-like complex and have to compete in six rounds of South Korean children's games. Players must beat each other in games like tug-of-war and marbles, but unlike in their childhood days, the losers are brutally murdered by rifles concealed in the sets, built especially for the games, or by masked gunmen dressed in pink jumpsuits.

Oftentimes the competitors recall childhood memories - sometimes happy ones - that may save them, giving them a certain advantage in the competition, but as they survive by watching others die, they are robbed of their humanity, after all, only one competitor can take the prize.

Almost as disturbing as the game itself is the way the architecture is designed. Clean, minimal, and calculated spaces, almost always in colors reminiscent of children's decorations, host the activities in an unsettling atmosphere of sweetness and innocence in contrast to the brutal acts of the organizers of this gruesome contest. Meanwhile, obscure, hidden, and cave-like spaces are used for underground activities, such as organ trafficking orchestrated by the guards in pink jumpsuits behind The Leader's back.

The detailing of the sets is exquisite. In an interview with Netflix Korea, art director Chae Kyung-sun comments on the terraced design of the metal beds where the players sleep. "Since modern society is constant competition to climb the ladder, we thought about portraying that in the bed design." Instead of treating them like people, she suggested the contestants be presented like objects piled on the warehouse shelves.

The most eye-catching element of the set design is, however, the vertical hallway of the gigantic underground facility. A maze-like staircase in pastel shades of green, blue, and pink - clearly inspired by Ricardo Bofill's La Muralla Roja (Spanish for The Red Wall) - is the backbone of the project, connecting environments on different levels and leading to all the minimalist and cavernous spaces.

Uncertainty makes labyrinths exciting. Unlike what many people understand as architecture, the primary function of these spaces is to confuse and disorient. This soft yet sterile structure with repeated elements confuses not only the viewer, but above all the players, who are forced to line up and ascend each step of the staircase as if it were the last.

Bofill's wall is not Squid Game's only visual inspiration, nor the most notable. The maze-like structure is an homage to the famous engravings by Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972), whose work features " mathematical operations including impossible objects, explorations of infinity, reflection, symmetry, perspective, truncated polyhedra, and hyperbolic geometry."

Escher's work and Bofill's project have aspects in common that have served as a visual reference for video games such as Monument Valley and the work of visual artists such as London-based artist Tishk Barzanji. Architecture, art, games, cinema, and television all share the same references, repeating the same visuals, making us feel as if we've seen it all before.

And we have. In 1745, architect and artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) began a series of 16 etchings he called Carceri (Prisons). The work shows enormous subterranean vaults, staircases, walkways, and other architectural elements composing impossible geometries, as did Escher two centuries later. The prints, created through a cumulative process of drawing and redrawing, caught the attention of Sergei Eisenstein who stated, in his text Piranesi or the Fluidity of Forms (1946-47), that at the basis of the composition of those architectural ensembles "lies that same unique 'dance' which is at the basis of the creation of works of music, painting, and film montage," pointing out a blatant connection between movement, architecture, and cinema.

Piranesi's prisons are impossible spaces that trap people in a maze-like environment. Entangled in these geometries, we are aware that we can easily get lost, but we still have faith that, at some point, we will find a way out - whatever it may be. Like the prisoners of the Carceri, the players of Squid Game, faced with the hardships of their personal lives, hope for a better future and end up voluntarily in an architectural prison where the only way out is the end.

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Squid Game: Minimalist Chic and Spaces of Oppression

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People die in Squid Game. Lots of people. But while violence is one of the most appealing ingredients for the success (or failure) of a television show, that's not the only reason the series has become so popular worldwide. Pop culture, mesmerizing scenarios, and a plot full of social metaphors all contribute to this.

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directed by Jim Henson with George Lucas

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Visual Impact Systems - Advertising and Marketing

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Labyrinth Movie - M.C. Escher 'Style' Room

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Tishk Barzanji's Illustrations Envision Compex Universes Inspired By Surrealism And Modern Architecture

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Baratto, R. (2018) Tishk Barzanji's illustrations envision complex universes inspired by Surrealism and Modern Architecture, ArchDaily. ArchDaily.

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It is rare to find artists who can instigate critical reflection on architecture by combining references such as 'The Red Wall' (La Muralla Roja) by Ricardo Boffil, with the complex illustrations of Giovanni Battista Piranesi and pop culture icons. But Tishk Barzanji, a London artist, is one who does.

Through his digital illustrations, he explores elements of modern architecture from a filtered view by using references that create a dreamlike and surreal universe, producing compositions that express an austere and somewhat disturbing atmosphere.

His obscure geometries-which are never fully revealed-are inhabited by black or red human figures who are always represented in motion, as if they were alive and in action at the moment they were frozen. Barzanji explains his procedure:
"My work is inspired by ancient history, the modern movement and my experiences in London since I moved here in 1997. My procedure addresses space, color, deconstruction, disruption of borders, understanding the lived space in this moving world, and the human interactions within those spaces."
Here are of some of the beautiful and complex illustrations of Tishk Barzanji:

To learn more about Barzanji's work, visit his website or Instagram.

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Tishk Barzanji's Illustrations Envision Complex Universes Inspired By Surrealism And Modern Architecture

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It is rare to find artists who can instigate critical reflection on architecture by combining references such as 'The Red Wall' (La Muralla Roja) by Ricardo Boffil, with the complex illustrations of Giovanni Battista Piranesi and pop culture icons. But Tishk Barzanji, a London artist, is one who does.

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Stooke, A. (2015) MC Escher: An Enigma behind an illusion, BBC Culture. BBC.

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It must be one of the most familiar images in modern art: a space-distorting interior that could never exist in reality, dominated by staircases sprouting surreally in all directions, and filled with expressionless, mannequin-like figures walking up and down like members of a religious order calmly going about their daily business.

Since the original lithograph was produced in the summer of 1953, Relativity - which belongs to a series of five prints by the same artist also featuring impossible constructions and multiple vanishing points - has been reproduced countless times on posters, mugs, T-shirts, items of stationery and even duvet covers.

Yet, if we're honest, how much do most of us really know about its creator, the Dutch printmaker MC Escher (1898-1972)? The truth is that outside his homeland Escher remains something of an enigma. Moreover, despite the popularity of his fastidious optical illusions, Escher continues to suffer from snobbery within the realm of fine art, where his output is often denigrated as little more than technically accomplished graphic design.

In Britain, for instance, it appears that only a single work by Escher belongs to a public collection: the woodcut Day and Night, which presents two flocks of birds, one black and one white, flying above a flat Dutch landscape in between a pair of rivers. Day and Night was Escher's most popular print: during the course of his lifetime, he made more than 650 copies of it, painstakingly rendering each impression with the help of a small egg spoon made of bone.

Yet, as Patrick Elliott of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art points out, even the print of Day and Night in the collection of the University of Glasgow's Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery "was actually acquired by the Geography Department and was transferred to the Museum at a later date".

So who was Escher - and does he deserve the indifferent reputation as a fine artist that fate has dealt him? These are some of the questions posed by The Amazing World of MC Escher, a forthcoming exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, which also happens to be the artist's first major UK retrospective.
'Miserable memories'
Born in the small city of Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands, Maurits Cornelis Escher, who was always known in his family as "Mauk", grew up in a prosperous household as the fifth son of a civil engineer who was a senior official at the Department of Public Works.

At secondary school in the city of Arnhem, where his family had moved in 1903, he had an unhappy time - and his miserable memories of this period of his life had a decisive influence upon many of his later prints, including Relativity.

Indeed, decades after "the hell that was Arnhem", as Escher later described his schooldays, he made a number of works featuring versions of the institution's dramatic staircase, which he had ascended so frequently as a boy. The resemblance between the school's staircase in reality and the structures in Escher's prints is remarkable.

In 1919, Escher enrolled at the School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem. His father hoped that he would become an architect, but, influenced by his graphic arts teacher, who had spotted his talent as a printmaker, Escher was determined to become an artist. As an adult, he pursued this career - combining travel, when he sketched and came up with ideas for future works (his two visits to the Moorish palace of the Alhambra in Granada were especially important, since they taught him how to work with tessellating patterns), with long stints at home, where he led a remarkably orderly life.

"He had a severe daily routine mixing working and walking and meeting visitors," says Micky Piller, curator of Escher in Het Paleis, the museum devoted to the artist's works in The Hague, where selections are shown from the collection of the Gemeentemuseum, which has also loaned works to the exhibition in Edinburgh. "He liked to observe nature, the sky, and birds. He loved classical music, especially Bach."
A 'one-man art movement'
Despite his self-discipline, however, Escher only became able to support himself solely from art during his late fifties. By then he had discovered his principal theme of perspective-mangling worlds, familiar from works such as Belvedere (1958), Ascending and Descending (1960), and Waterfall (1961), as well as Relativity. He was also known for executing his prints to a very high level.

Occasionally, one gets the impression that this meticulous, sober man could be a little stuffy. During the '60s, Escher's work found mainstream popularity, as hippies delighted in its supposedly "psychedelic" qualities. (It used to be believed, incorrectly, that the plant at the centre of Balcony was cannabis.) Yet when Mick Jagger wrote to "Maurits" asking for permission to reproduce one of his pictures on the cover of the Rolling Stones' album Through the Past Darkly, Escher refused, informing the rock star's assistant: "Please tell Mr Jagger I am not Maurits to him." In 1965, Escher also turned down Stanley Kubrick's request for help on a "fourth-dimensional film" (perhaps 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Still, this doesn't mean that Escher was humourless. "I like to think he was a rather quiet person, but very tongue in cheek," Piller says. "His relatives found him witty. He was open-minded and interested in the world and very dedicated to his art." Moreover, turning down requests from famous people in other fields didn't stop his prints having a tremendous impact upon popular culture. Some of his pictures did appear on album covers, including The Scaffold's L the P and Mott the Hoople's eponymous debut. They also became a reference point for cartoonists.

More recently, Escher's mind-bending visions have provided inspiration for the creators of The Simpsons, as well as film-makers including Jim Henson, whose 1986 film Labyrinth starring David Bowie includes a homage to Relativity, and Christopher Nolan, who created a dizzying, Escher-like dream sequence for his 2010 blockbuster Inception, in which the streets of Paris are seen to fold, buckle, and warp.

So how should we think of Escher - as a purveyor of visual conundrums and curiosities, or a "proper" printmaker working within a venerable tradition? He is sometimes called "a one-man art movement", and this seems like as good a description as any, because he didn't associate himself with other tendencies in modern art, including the one - Surrealism - to which he was arguably closest in spirit. He also had few artistic successors: "Although he created something absolutely new," says Piller, "Escher has not directly influenced any artists."

At the same time, Escher was capable of concocting potent images with near-universal appeal - something, surely, to which most fine artists would aspire. "At a time when abstract art was ruling the galleries," Piller says, "Escher fooled all of us by exploring such abstract ideas as eternity, infinity, and the impossible in apparently realistic prints that were amazingly well made. As the general public lost contact with the art world, Escher's prints seemed simple and easy to understand."
Alastair Sooke is art critic of The Daily Telegraph
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It must be one of the most familiar images in modern art: a space-distorting interior that could never exist in reality, dominated by staircases sprouting surreally in all directions, and filled with expressionless, mannequin-like figures walking up and down like members of a religious order calmly going about their daily business.

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Option 1 "The Utopian Metropolis":

This design brief aims to create a futuristic, utopian city that is inspired by the work of architect Ricardo Bofill, the dreamlike tones from the game Monument Valley, and the vibrant colours and patterns of artist Tishk Barzanji.

The city will be characterized by its clean lines, sleek geometric shapes, and harmonious integration of nature and technology.

The buildings will be connected by a network of elevated walkways and gardens, creating a sense of community and connection. The colour palette and patterns used in the architecture will be inspired by Tishk Barzanji's art, adding a sense of wonder and playfulness to the city.

Option 2 "The Dystopian Labyrinth":

This design brief aims to create a surreal and oppressive world that is inspired by the work of M.C Escher and the game Monument Valley.

The landscape will be composed of towering pillars and monolithic structures, formed by the interlocking geometric shapes. However, unlike the Monument Valley, this world will be dark, gloomy and maze-like.

The environment will constantly change, but instead of revealing new paths, it will create confusion and disorientation. The buildings will be inspired by the impossible constructions and impossible geometry of Escher's works, featuring endless staircases and impossible angles that challenge the visitor's perception of reality, creating a sense of claustrophobia and entrapment.

The colour palette used in the architecture will be dark and muted, to reflect the oppressive tone of the world.