{"id":7901,"date":"2015-02-10T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/earth-primer-app\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T11:53:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T15:53:36","slug":"earth-primer-app","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/earth-primer-app\/","title":{"rendered":"Geographic Design: Earth Primer App Lets You Move Mountains and Shift Seas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architects \u2014 particularly those who advocated the omnipotent potential of modernism \u2014 are often accused of possessing some kind of God Complex<\/a>, believing in their ability to shape whole landscapes in accordance with their unshakeable utopian beliefs. If that is the case, then the new Earth Primer App<\/a> should have us all salivating: The self-described \u2018science book for playful people\u2019 allows users to get under the skin of the planet with a simple swipe of the touch screen, allowing for landscape manipulation on a biblical scale.<\/p>\n

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Developed by game designer Chaim Gingold, the App is broadly intended to increase our knowledge of the earth\u2019s geological makeup, offering visual lessons in plate tectonics, the formation of mountains, seas, volcanoes and glaciers, and the long-term effects of wind and water erosion on our natural environment. Promoted as a tool primarily for children and young adults, Earth Primer is a classic example of purposeful legerdemain: It is pure education disguised as play. For now, the software only scratches at the surface of these complex phenomena, but the primer is packed full of potential for further development to add theoretical depth and detail further down the line.<\/p>\n

Even as it stands, though, this app is likely to appeal to a much larger demographic than just the children (and their parents) amongst us: After all, who could resist the ability to sculpt canyons with a sweeping arc of your finger, or erupt a volcanic with a firm tap on the glass?<\/p>\n