Shotengai

The thesis uses the medium of the science-fiction short film to address the potential of architecture to narrate the contemporary notion of Shinto techno animism. The site for this short film is in a shotengai. The shotengai urban typology becomes the architectural trope and catalyst from which the thesis explores the relationship of techno-animism's implications on space. Seminal works of Japanese science-fiction will be studied to situate the relationship between technology and its animation and reveal how techno-animism manifests itself in various ways through characters, cities, or objects. The thesis uses multiple digital techniques organized by a production time-line specific to the animation industry. The thesis interprets techno-animism's spatial consequences to range from vast infrastructures to minute household items, each interconnected through spiritual kami. The thesis stands as a personal expression and interpretation of contemporary techno-animistic beliefs. The atmosphere of space portrayed evokes the meaning of a techno-animist world.