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Course Review | Core Design for M.Arch(International) |Lost Heritage and Gamified Recreation

The course "Virtual Reality Design: Lost Heritage and Gamified Recreation" is one of the selected topics for the Core Design 1 in the M.Arch (International) program at the School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Guided by Associate Professor HUANG Huaqing, the course attracted 11 students, including 6 international students. Teams composed of Chinese and international students from diverse national and civilizational backgrounds collaborated on designs, fostering cultural exchange in the classroom. This resulted in five game recreation designs for architectural heritage derived from different cultural contexts: Bolghar, Russia; Shuomen Port in Wenzhou, China; the Maijishan Grottoes in Gansu, China; the Dunhuang Murals in Gansu, China; and Sigiriya, Sri Lanka.

Course Introduction

Heritage represents the fusion of magnificent material culture created by humanity and the underlying socio-cultural practices. This course focuses on historical heritage that has vanished or only remains as ruins yet holds immense importance for human civilization. It trains students to reconstruct the material space of heritage and its corresponding socio-cultural practices based on interdisciplinary historical research encompassing urban history, architectural history, archaeology, anthropology, etc., following the technical framework for virtual heritage established by ICOMOS's Seville Principles. Finally, through the method of serious games, the course explores a popularized, anti-elitist path for heritage presentation and public education.
During the course, students learned humanistic and social science methods for interdisciplinary historical research, virtual heritage design methods for recreating historical scenes, and honed practical skills in game development workflows using tools like Maya, UE5, and AIGC.

Course Review

In the initial phase, students conducted extensive and in-depth interdisciplinary academic research on architectural heritage, covering fields such as architectural history, urban history, art history, and anthropology. Subsequently, they designed game themes and scripts, and researched and documented character appearances and scene reconstructions based on historical literature. During the mid-term, students completed spatial scripts, used preliminary architectural reconstruction scenes to demonstrate the narrative structure and plot progression of their games, and began planning gameplay mechanics tailored to their chosen heritage sites. They also explored 3D modeling for game environments, creating academically-informed architectural heritage scenes to build vivid and rich virtual spaces for game design. In the latter part of the course, the focus shifted to scene construction using the Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) and the production of a series of immersive video scene presentations.

Students experimented with AIGC-assisted design in areas such as 3D modeling for scene props, 3D character creation, and gameplay prototype demonstrations. They utilized AI software to generate 3D character models and perform AI-based skeletal rigging, enabling rapid prototype setup within the game engine. The application of AI assistance allowed students to create rich and academically profound virtual heritage spaces within the limited course timeframe, focusing more on the game design and planning level, and achieving outstanding design outcomes.

​The course also invited guest speakers from various fields including art history, game art, and AIGC art creation to deliver lectures and provide consultation, offering academic and technical support for the course projects.

​Project Presentation

The final review took place on November 22nd in Exhibition Hall 3 of the Design Building. It invited interdisciplinary critics from top universities, including Wei Shiyu from Tsinghua University, Cao Kaizhong from Communication University of China, Yan Yu from Beijing Institute of Technology, and Huang Yuemin from East China Normal University, for the final presentation and in-depth discussion. The following showcases the design outcomes from each group (authors listed in no particular order), all demonstrating professional practice in Virtual Architecture X Game Design for the presentation and revitalization of architectural heritage.

Team 01 

Bolghar: Architecture and Traditions of the Ancient City through Gameplay

Authors: Adelia Gataullina (Russia), Ji Hantian

​Project Description

You are the daughter and apprentice of a cartographer, and your mission is to show your father how well you have mastered the craft by mapping the port city of Bolgar (once part of the Great Silk Road) onto modern maps. But no one knows that this is only your cover. Your true task is to find and stop the leader of the river pirates. He has arrived in the city to recruit a new crew, and you must discover the secret places where they meet, disrupt their recruitment, and prevent future attacks on ships in the waters of Bolgar.

Alongside you is your friend Karim, his mission is to learn all the wisdom and traditions of his people’s culture and prepare for the celebration of Sabantuy— the biggest festival of the summer. His teacher is ill, and it's crucial to gather every precious piece of knowledge about culture and customs to pass it on to future generations.

While Amina studies the structure of the city and its key buildings, Karim collects ancient songs, learns the craft of leatherwork for making ichigi (traditional Tatar footwear) gathers musicians who play traditional instruments of the people, and practices national dance movements to teach Amina as well. Working together, they will save not only the city and its wealth but also ensure that the knowledge of their culture and traditions survives for centuries.

Throughout the game and various quests, players will witness the construction of the city’s central stone building: the Cathedral Mosque.

Although in the modern world we lack direct proof of this building’s religious affiliation, one thing is certain: this place was the center of the city’s festivities. And it is here that our game will conclude: after all quests are completed and the enemy is defeated. The ending will be marked by a grand celebration of Sabantuy, part of which will take place inside the building as well.

Team 02

Shuomen port: Trade of the Thousand Peaks

Authors: Ani Gevorgyan (Armenia), Guo Yicen

​Project Description

This case focuses on Shuomen Ancient Port in Wenzhou during the Southern Song Dynasty (12th–13th centuries), a vibrant hub where craftsmanship, maritime trade, and cultural philosophy converged. It examines Longquan porcelain production, archaeological discoveries at Shuomen, and the shifts in mindset that such exchanges could inspire—both for individuals and for society as a whole. The reconstruction of the port’s process-driven environment draws on pier layouts, urban morphology, and Song-dynasty paintings to revive the city’s spatial and visual qualities in the absence of surviving walls or gates. This approach provides an opportunity to weave together the history, social life, and values of the era.

The plot and objectives of the game “The Trade of a Thousand Peaks” developed through historical, architectural, and urban research on recent findings at Shuomen Ancient Port. Set during the Song dynasty, the game aims to illuminate the Maritime Silk Road’s influence on:

• the spread and cultural legacy of one of China’s greatest treasures: Longquan porcelain

• the social and cultural exchanges fostered through maritime trade

• the economic life and regional networks centered on Shuomen Port and the city of Wenzhou

The experience unfolds across several levels and settings, revealing that what appears to be a simple trade—Longquan porcelain concentrated and exported through Wenzhou—was in fact a conduit for cultural exchange, exceptional skill, and worldwide admiration. It begins with the heritage of craftsmanship, moves through the threshold of the unknown world at Shuomen Port, and culminates in a horizon of broader dreams, where mastery travels across the seas—often gaining recognition far beyond the maker’s knowledge.

Team 03

Pure Land Sound Quest -lmmersive Game Space Design Based on Dunhuang Murals

Authors: Matteo Cotti Piccinelli (Italy), Wang Yuxuan

​Project Description

"Pure Land Sound Quest" is an immersive cultural exploration game based on the High Tang murals in Mogao Grottoes Cave 172. It reconstructs Tang Dynasty architecture and music culture through digital technology, creating an interactive experience where "architecture serves as the backbone and music as the soul." Drawing inspiration from the "Amitabha Pure Land" mural in Cave 172, the game restores the architectural complex and artistic scenes of the Western Pure Land depicted in the mural, inviting players to retrieve four lost elegant musical treasures of the High Tang during an adventure of "stepping into the painting."

Architectural restoration stands as the core design highlight. Guided by Tang Dynasty architectural regulations and mural evidence, the team accurately replicated the complete system of the Pure Land temple: the five-bay main hall with a gable-and-hip roof (Wudian Ding) showcases hierarchical dignity through its four slopes, five ridges, and straight eaves with brackets; the two-story side hall with a hipped-gable roof (Xieshan Ding) features flying eaves like bird wings, echoing the artistic portrayal of "wingtips soaring" in the mural; the waterside corridors and side rooms (Ear Room) restore the construction wisdom of Tang architecture, where "function and aesthetics coexist." Architectural spaces are deeply integrated with musical instrument collection—riddles guide players to find corresponding instruments in specific buildings, enabling intuitive understanding of Tang architectural hierarchy and spatial layout logic during exploration.

The game also restores the classic forms and cultural connotations of Tang musical instruments. The Zheng (zither), designed in line with the "Old Book of Tang" record of "similar to the Se but with fewer strings," blends Central Plains elegance with Western Regions charm. The Pipa (lute), crafted from red sandalwood with a pear-shaped sound box, reproduces the timeless stunt of "backward-playing Pipa" from murals. Each instrument’s design references historical documents such as the "Old Book of Tang" and "Tongdian" as well as mural details, balancing authenticity and artistry.

Guided by Miaoyinniao, the celestial feathered bird, players navigate the restored Tang architectural complex through the core gameplay of "solving puzzles to find sounds." The game breaks the barrier between traditional culture and digital entertainment, transforming abstract historical knowledge into tangible interactive experiences. It allows players to appreciate the structural beauty of Tang architecture and the vivid charm of ancient music, while using digital innovation as a link to revitalize Dunhuang culture and Silk Road civilization sealed in murals.

Team 04

The Whisper of the Rock - Virtual Reconstruction of the Sigiriya Fortress in Sri Lanka

Authors: Menusha Hiruni Ariyaratne (Sri Lanka), Ying Nuo

​Project Description

Whisper of the Rock is a multidisciplinary project that reconstructs the 5th-century citadel of Sigiriya through architectural research, digital modeling, and narrative game design. The project combines archaeological evidence, historical chronicles such as the Chulavamsa, and Sri Lankan myth to create an accurate yet immersive virtual experience of King Kashyapa’s sky-fortress.

The architectural reconstruction focuses on Sigiriya’s seven-layered defensive system, including ramparts, crocodile-filled moats, engineered hydraulic gardens, boulder defenses, the Mirror Wall, celestial frescoes, the Lion Gate, and the summit palace complex. Each space is digitally modeled to reflect its historical form and functional logic: water systems that operated through pressure, gardens that could flood as protection, boulder formations designed for ambush, and the elevated palace.

Building on this restored environment, the project develops a narrative game prototype set during Kashyapa’s reign. Players enter Sigiriya as a trader from the Far East, passing through the fortress layer by layer while interacting with reconstructed landscapes and architectural systems. As they advance, the environment reacts to them—revealing the hidden truth that the player is Ravana in human disguise, a mythical figure returning unknowingly to a place that remembers him. The experience culminates at the summit palace, moments before the historical invasion led by Moggallana.

Through UE5 scene reconstruction, AI-assisted character design, and a scripted demo video, the project bridges historical scholarship with interactive storytelling, allowing the architecture itself to become the narrative engine.

Overall, Whisper of the Rock demonstrates how virtual heritage can communicate history, myth, engineering, and memory through spatial experience, transforming Sigiriya’s archaeological record into a living, explorable world.

Team 05

Echoes of Maijishan

Authors: Davide Fabietti (Italy), Malgorzata Anna Pajak (Poland), Qi Rui

​Project Description

The Maijishan Grottoes are among the most significant Buddhist monastic complexes along the historic Silk Road and stand as a crossroads of aesthetic traditions, construction techniques and religious practices that evolved over more than a thousand years. Carved into the sandstone cliff of Mount Maijishan, the grottoes contain reconstructed timber structures, clay sculptures supported by wooden armatures and suspended walkways that demonstrate an extraordinary dialogue between architecture and landscape. Rather than acting solely as a devotional site, Maijishan can be understood as an architectural laboratory in which material experimentation, iconographic programs and spatial innovation gradually reshaped the understanding of cave-temple architecture in China.

This project concentrates on Caves 30, 43, 4 and 5, selected for their capacity to illustrate pivotal stages in the architectural and artistic development of the site. Each cave embodies a moment in the evolutionary sequence of Maijishan. Cave 30 reflects early Northern Wei experiments that still imitate timber architecture, while the later caves reveal increasingly autonomous vaulted spaces and sophisticated decorative systems shaped by fully sinicized cultural language. The study of façades, proportions, roofing strategies and sculptural programs shows how the architecture adapted to the topography, ritual needs and changing aesthetic values of each historical phase.

The research process involved the collection and comparison of two-dimensional drawings, archival sources, photographic material and typological references. These data provided the foundation for an accurate digital reconstruction of the selected grottoes. Through the combined use of Rhino, Blender and advanced texturing platforms, the project recreated structures and figurative elements that are now fragmented or lost, enabling a three-dimensional reading of architectural logics and decorative schemes that exceeds the possibilities of traditional surveying methods.

The project culminates in the development of an immersive and narrative videogame that transforms the act of visiting the grottoes into an active and exploratory experience. The player assumes the identity of a Tang Dynasty pilgrim and progresses through the caves by solving symbolic tasks, interacting with historical characters and recovering fragments of iconography in order to collect a set of keys that allow a return to the present world. In this context, the traversal of the grottoes functions not only as a narrative device but also as a learning process that draws the user closer to the architectural and historical content through direct engagement. Heritage becomes accessible through participation and discovery rather than mere observation.

The videogame therefore exceeds its role as a didactic instrument and becomes a critical medium capable of questioning the relationships among authenticity, reconstruction and perception. By visually revealing the stratification of the site and its transformations over time, the digital environment challenges the distinction between original artifacts and reconstructed elements and fosters greater awareness of the cultural value of the Maijishan Grottoes. The project extends beyond digital modeling and opens an experimental pathway that considers how virtual tools can enhance the experience of heritage and contribute to a more conscious and participatory mode of cultural transmission.

Concluding Seminar: The First Virtual Architecture Symposium

On November 22nd, the first Virtual Architecture Symposium, "Cultural Heritage and Game Design," was successfully held at the School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The outcomes from this Core Design 1 course, "Virtual Reality Design: Lost Heritage and Gamified Recreation" were also included as exhibits in the multi-university collaborative exhibition Virtual Architecture X Game Design held as part of the symposium. The exhibition ran from November 22nd to December 7th in Exhibition Hall 3 on the first floor of the School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Visitors are welcome.

Chaired by Huang Huaqing, Associate Professor of Architecture at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the symposium brought together experts from top institutions such as Tsinghua University, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Communication University of China, Beijing Institute of Technology, and East China Normal University, as well as industry leaders like miHoYo, to collectively explore new opportunities and challenges at the intersection of architecture, cultural heritage, and game space design. Professor Huang Huaqing from the School of Design chaired the symposium. Wu Chao, Party Secretary of the School of Design, delivered the opening address. Faculty members from the Department of Architecture, including Head Huang Yinwu, Sun Haode, and Zhang Yang, participated in the event. This symposium also served as a concentrated presentation within the "Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Design Interdisciplinary Frontier Lecture Series."

For more highlights from the symposium, please refer to the article on the School of Design website: Virtual Architecture Empowering Cultural Heritage: A Review of the First Virtual Architecture Symposium.

​Summary and Outlook

The course "Virtual Reality Design: Lost Heritage and Gamified Recreation" provided students with a practical platform for interdisciplinary research and design. Against the backdrop of growing interest in virtual space scenario planning within the cultural industry in recent years, the professional knowledge and skills cultivated in this course—including academic research on cultural heritage, virtual space scenario and spatial script planning, 3D modeling reconstruction of virtual spaces, and immersive scene construction using the UE5 game engine—have offered architecture students valuable experience and insights for aligning with the demands of the cultural industry era and expanding the pathways of disciplinary practice.