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Master in Architettura Digitale - MADI

GRIS, The Five Stages of Grief: from Virtual to Reality

Pain is a universal feeling that all human beings experience at least once in their lifetime. In medicine, pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory perception associated with actual or potential tissue damage. There are different types of pain, including acute pain and chronic pain but above all there is a great distinction between physical and psychological pain, very often the latter is also the cause of the other.

Throughout life, we experience many situations that cause pain and this can be caused by significant experiences, relationships or even substance abuse. Pain is something that all human beings have in common: from children who can suffer from the divorce of their parents, to a man grieved by the loss of a partner, from a teenager who suffers from the end of a relationship, to a patient who receives a diagnosis terminal illness doctor.

Suffering is an inevitable part of human life, and it is an experience we all go through at different times. However, even though it can be difficult to deal with, pain can also be an opportunity to grow and overcome our limitations. We took as inspiration the video game Gris from the developers Nomada Studio, in which pain is a central theme. The game follows the journey of a young girl trying to overcome grief and loss, navigating through a surreal fantasy world. The game is known for its breathtaking visual art and intricate architecture, which create an immersive and exciting gaming experience.

In this project, we addressed the topic of pain through the prism of the five stages of pain, a theory that describes the process that many people go through when dealing with a loss or painful event. These five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Mainly we want to explore how these stages of grief play out in daily life and how we can overcome grief and reach the final stage of acceptance. However, these stages do not follow a linear order and everyone experiences them differently, but these stages can be said to represent a pain processing process.

This analysis of pain and its phases, uniting it with the world of digital architecture, has allowed us to examine how technology can be used to create virtual environments that reflect our inner state and how a story with a strong psychological character can be told. Digital architecture has reached incredible levels of realism and detail, allowing designers to create virtual environments that feel almost real. Autodesk 3DS software is one of the most widely used programs in the field of architectural visualization, enabling designers to create 3D models that are as complex and realistic as the resulting images.

We explored how digital architecture and Autodesk 3DS software can be used to create environments, inspired by the video game Gris, illustrating the different stages of grief. The aim is to bring certain environments of the game into three-dimensional space, which is entirely in two dimensions. The challenge is to remain faithful to the aesthetics of the game but try to aim for realism, creating spaces that sometimes cannot be real but which present extreme realism. Through the use of tools such as virtual reality and digital art, the goal is to create immersive experiences that can make the observer feel the different stages of pain, from the initial stage to the deepest, up to healing and upon recovery.

Ultimately, this project aims to raise awareness about mental health and the importance of taking care of yourself during difficult times. Thanks to the images created through digital architecture and technology, it is hoped to raise awareness of the impact of pain on mental health and to create a moment of reflection that can contribute to a better understanding of human suffering.