Guest editors: PAREID (Deborah Lopez + Hadin Charbel)
The increasing use of interactive media in architecture has radically transformed how we conceive of and experience both the subjects and the scales of design. The traditional approach of working with isolated, static objects—whether at the scale of a room, building, or master plan—has evolved into a more dynamic framework, where relationships between elements can actively influence one another over time.
The integration of videogame engines has introduced new ways of being and experimenting— through acts of simulation, enabling multiple players to participate in decision making, and even extending perspectives beyond the human to the non-human. Similarly, film, augmented and mixed reality, and virtual environments have opened up new possibilities for spatial storytelling, interaction dynamics, learning, and the dissemination of architectural knowledge. Today, one can ‘press play’ with architecture.
While these tools offer seemingly endless potential, they are constrained by their own limitations, both in hardware and software. The catalog of pre-built assets, for instance, often reinforces homogenized aesthetics, character representations, and narrative structures. Moreover, despite their perceived seamlessness and immateriality, digital environments rely on continuous energy consumption and connectivity
This issue of Materia Arquitectura seeks to explore the role of design in digital environments within an era of both scarcity and excess, placelessness and embeddedness, human and non-human agency— through the lens of interactive media. It asks: What are the implications of environmental storytelling? What are the limits and possibilities of participatory digital design? How do current economic structures shape these environments? How can emerging technologies be used without reinforcing technocratic paradigms? What new pedagogical models emerge through these new media? What are the effects of interactive media beyond the medium itself? How are heritage and preservation redefined in virtual environments? Can virtual spaces be considered “legitimate” when the physical disappears? Does the virtual decay?
Materia Arquitectura invites researchers, designers, and scholars to contribute articles that critically examine the effects, limitations, and promises of these media as we navigate the intersection of digital immersion, environmental responsibility, and architectural innovation. We welcome theoretical, historical, and practice-based contributions that interrogate how interactive media reshape architectural thought, production, and experience—inviting reflections on both their transformative potential and inherent contradictions.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINE
To be published in MATERIA ARQUITECTURA, authors should send their work to the following email address: materia.arquitectura@uss.cl
MATERIA ARQUITECTURA will only publish original and unpublished works. Texts and images are the sole responsibility of the author. The works will be evaluated by the editors and by peer reviewers.
Once the articles have been accepted, MATERIA ARQUITECTURA will contact the authors to give them specific instructions on the publication process. The following sections are open for contributions:
TEXTS
Essays, research, articles. The journal is thematic in nature (see I. Call for Papers) and will publish essays and theoretical texts that are the result of research or specific works. Articles must be submitted anonymously but must include the following information:
> Texts of a maximum 3000 words (format .doc)
> An abstract of 100 words maximum.
> Five keywords.
> Citations, notes, references and bibliography should be according to the APA style manual.
> Biographical sketch of the author, 100 words maximum (separate from the text).
> Images, photographs (formats: TIFF, JPG, EPS. Resolution: 300 DPI). Images must include Captions, credits, source and authorization to be published when applicable. Architectural drawings (format: DWG).
ARCHITECTURE AND CRITICISM
Critical and theoretical reviews of architectural works and projects related to the theme of the call. Reviews of personal projects or works in which the author is involved will not be accepted.
Text of a maximum 1,500 words.
> Technical information.
> Drawings (DWG), photographs and images (300 dpi).
> Authors ́ copyrights, if applicable.
GRAPHIC REPORT
Visual exploration related to the topic of the call for papers:
> Introductory text, 500 words maximum.
> 8 to 20, drawings (DWG), photographs and or images (300 dpi).
MATERIA ARQUITECTURA is a bi-annual publication on architecture, published since 2009 by the School of Architecture of the Universidad San Sebastián. As a documentation, dissemination and reference tool, the magazine aims to broaden knowledge of the discipline from a critical perspective, with the aim of opening new discourses on contemporary architecture.
MATERIA ARQUITECTURA is open to the entire academic and professional community, both national and international. The journal has a special interest in publishing works related to the theoretical research and practical production of contemporary architecture. The editors invite you to submit papers reflecting the state of art in the discipline, derived from academic research.
MATERIA ARQUITECTURA N°28
Publication date: August 2025.
Submission deadline: May 5, 2025