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This project reimagines magical realism as an architectural strategy in virtual space. Using data from the Jeju 4.3 Uprising, it transforms historical records and testimonies into playable architecture. Shadows become interactive structures—reminding us that the past must never be forgotten, for only then can memory persist. The project interprets traumatic history through interactive spatial storytelling, where numbers shape both form and atmosphere: stairs rise with casualties, collapsing schoolrooms echo destruction, and walls embody absence. A central shadow mechanic allows players to manipulate shadows, extruding and recombining them into three-dimensional forms. The narrative unfolds across three sites — Darangshi Cave, Teojinmok Shore, and Seot-al Oreum — each translating trauma into symbolic, data-driven spaces. Players embody a young girl who gathers and frees shadows tied to memory. In the final stage, she gazes upon a data-formed Jeju Island, and the closing moment reveals the project’s meaning: she begins without a shadow, and only by carrying those of the past can she — and memory itself — exist.
"Dalshi" comes from the name of a vanished village in Jeju Island, South Korea’s largest island. Set against the April 3, 1948 civilian massacre, the project uses data-driven methods to reimagine architecture through the lens of magical realism.
Through the shadow mechanic, unique interactions are introduced: shadows can be extruded, fragmented, or pushed, transforming unnoticed elements into dynamic forms. These actions open new dimensions of gameplay, making memory tangible and playable.
In the game, the child encounters a data-wrapped totem that both records her journey and embodies the game’s symbolism. It is surrounded by a nest-like structure made of 14,442 faces—the official death toll documented from the Jeju 4.3 incident.
This behind-the-scenes video explains how data from the real incident was used in constructing the game world. I intended the game itself to serve as a repository of records.
This closing moment reveals the project’s true meaning: the girl begins without a shadow, and only by carrying the shadows of the past can she — and memory itself — exist. In her act of bearing memory, absence becomes presence and the past lives on.