Collective Building Projects in Second Life: User Motives and Strategies Explained From an Architectural and Ethnographic Perspective

Users of “Second Life” invest considerable amounts of time, money, and creativity in collective building projects. Informed by a 14-month ethnography, this chapter explains why and how from an architectural perspective. User motivation is explained with recourse to the concept of dwelling, and special attention is given to use of the architectural devices boundary and image. The user strategy employing such devices is summed up as a pop vernacular building strategy characterised by eclecticism but not by irony. Special attention is given to the way in which the avatar allows a sense of place to be bodily grounded in agency. Through its architectural focus on concepts such as place and dwelling, the chapter demonstrates the relevance of “old”, i.e., pre-digital, experiences in virtual worlds.