Where are virtual worlds created? Pangyo Techno Valley, the self-proclaimed “Silicon Valley of South Korea,” is home to numerous tech platforms, conglomerates, and start-ups. Pangyo, the city where this technological nexus is located, is composed of transportation hubs, bedroom communities, shopping malls and outlets, schools, and hospitality-centered complexes. Like other satellite cities around Seoul, it sprawls outward from a center, bringing with it urban developments, highly manicured landscaping, and mechanical waterfalls that decorate public domains. The domesticated nature in these spaces feels virtual, as if made by software. In fact, software can neatly simulate nature, as is demonstrated by the Barnsley Fern, an iterated function system that is often used to imitate the natural fern. From a bird’s-eye view, these satellite cities even look like the central processing unit of…
