Archinect
Nels Long

Nels Long

Jackson, MS, US

 

About 

For the past six years I have been fascinated by the relationship between architecture and the virtual environment. This fascination has driven me to develop projects and applications with the specific intent of understanding specific aspects of this relationship, such as physical objects that contain virtual information, virtual spaces designed to mitigate psychological conditions, and introducing game logic and play into contemporary design workflows. 
At the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS) I was charged with the creation of game based, development frameworks. These frameworks were designed to succeed at helping communities develop and prosper in the most underdeveloped of nations, to the World’s most advanced. Through deliberate simplification of the logic and abstraction of the major functions we were soon able to use the same platform to implement a multiplayer, mobile game in Austin, Texas as our trading card game which educated Haitian players on aspects of health and innovation in the wake of their disaster in 2010. 
It is this approach to interfaces that I truly enjoy. The juxtaposition of the extreme low tech and the cutting-edge. Intelligent stone. This was the premise behind a project I completed in my undergraduate program at Mississippi State University, code named The Landscape of Interactivity. In this landscape everything is intelligent. The grass and the trees alike contain hidden patterns designed specifically to allow computer vision algorithms to access digital information which visitors are able to happen upon as they explore. Similarly, at Postindustrial Landscapes, an Architectural Association Visiting School I was fortunate enough to have contributed to, our goal was the creation of a balloon linked to three Oculus Rifts so as it floated over San Francisco passersby could have a moment of weightless life. 
This path culminates in the project I have designed and developed for the final project of my Emerging Systems, Technology and Media (EST|m) program at SCI-Arc, code named Affinity. This project is comprised of three major components to implement a real-time pipeline, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), gesture control using the Microsoft Kinect, and game related intelligent software. It incorporates the ability to play with another user or with a robot. The workflow initializes with the user solving a puzzle by selecting zones on the interface. As the player takes control of a zone, the application births an inhabitant for that area which begins a series of formal generations according to the game's intelligence. In this case, my intent was to design an antenna array so the inhabitant was an L-System which recursively populated each zone with units according to their maximum efficiencies. As player's selections begin to crowd each other, the inhabitants update their structure - sometimes resulting in a higher or lower efficiency - introducing strategy and thus, a level of competition. 

Elsewhere:

Employment 

Roto Architects, Los Angeles, CA, US, Freelance Designer

Supplementing the existing design team for a number of projects around the LA area.

Nov 2014 - current
 

Coscia Day Architecture and Design, Los Angeles, CA, US, Freelance Designer

Design and drafting of residences for client approval and permitting.

Oct 2014 - current
 

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, US, TA - Michael Rotondi

As a teaching assistant to Michael Rotondi I work with students help them understand and develop the role of gaming and real time visualization strategies in their design workflow.

Sep 2014 - current
 

Thomas S. Jones & Associates, Starkville, MS, US, Architectural Intern - Part Time & Freelance

May 2008 - current
 

Tom Wiscombe Architecture, Los Angeles, Freelance Designer

Provided assistance on the completion of the Kinmen Terminal International Design Competition for which Tom Wiscombe won second place.

Jan 2014 - Feb 2014
 

Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, Austin, TX, US, Architectural Intern

May 2011 - Jan 2012
 

Hibser Yamauchi Architects, Davis, CA, US, Architectural Intern

May 2009 - Aug 2009
 

Coggan + Crawford, Brooklyn, NY, US, Designer

May 2008 - Jan 2009
 

Education 

Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, US, Masters, EST|m

SCI-Arc's EST|m Master program is a rigorous, experimental post-professional degree platform focused on data-based and physical investigations into the rapidly evolving fields of digital design, innovative fabrication methodologies and new building systems.

Aug 2013 - Sep 2014
 

Mississippi State University, Jackson, MS, US, BArch, Architecture

Jul 2007 - May 2013
 

Izmir University of Economics, Balçova, TR, Architecture

Sep 2010 - Jan 2011
 

Areas of Specialization 

Skills