Carlos Navarro

LA-based architectural designer and new media artist working at the intersection of generative AI, procedural design, and game engines. His practice reactivates architectural semiology through digital worldbuilding, producing immersive, interactive experiences that bridge architecture and media art.

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Work
  1. Penjing World
  2. SA(rch)M
  3. Seed / Thrive
  4. Zero-Carbon Futures
  5. MexiFuturism
  6. Weird Ecologies
  7. Uncanny Valley
  8. 3D Neural Synthesis
  9. Hyperreal HK
  10. 3D Handscrolls
  11. Playtime ML Agents
  12. Material Intelligence
  13. ArcoGAN
  14. Computational Thinking
  15. AR Projections

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Penjing World
Penjing World Plausible Miniature Urban Landscapes
through Gaussian Splatting

Penjing World:
Plausible Miniature Urban Landscapes
through Gaussian Splatting
 Oct 01, 2025.  GS Workshop at Woodbury University
Oct 24, 2025.  “Portal” Exhibition at Resin Gallery “Penjing World” transforms miniature potted nature into immersive, urban-scale digital landscapes in 3D-captured LA Metro environments. Participants navigate multilevel VR worlds where music, motion, and spatial memory shape real-time, audio-reactive volumetric scenes. The work blends craft, interactive storytelling, and digital worldbuilding into a contemplative, multisensory experience.



Penjing World v1.0:
Process Sequences
Oct 1, 2025.  Gaussian Splatting Workshop
Applications & Applications Lecture Series
Woodbury School of Architecture  
 The project originated through a series of process sequences developed for the Applications & Applications Lecture Series, led by Caco Peguero at Woodbury University. Created with Luma Gaussian Splatting technology in Unreal Engine, this work explored new intersections of traditional craft, real-time rendering, and experiential storytelling. Soundtrack co-created with AI.




System Architecture:
Asset & Environment = Narrative & Medium Worldbuildng Pipeline

Splat Mapping:
Comparative Scale Research

Juxtaposing miniature potted nature with the monumental architecture of the LA Metro. This series utilizes Gaussian Splatting 3D captures to subvert traditional notions of scale, elevating humble assets into dominant environmental features.

Synthetic Habitats:
Volumetric Studies
 These environments explore the surreal tension of a "displaced scale." By injecting monumentalized flora into the cavernous voids of the LA Metro, the architecture loses its dominance. What was once a small, private object of contemplation becomes an unavoidable, public landmark.



Penjing World v2.0:
Multisensory, Audio-reactive System
Oct 24, 2025.   “Portal” Exhibition
Resin Gallery, Hermosa Beach, CA

Developed in Unreal Engine and TouchDesigner, Penjing
World integrates Gaussian Splatting for volumetric rendering, extending the
technique into virtual reality, an approach rarely applied in immersive
environments. Through OSC communication, a soundtrack composed in TouchDesigner
modulates the splat fields live within Unreal Engine, producing distortions,
color shifts, and particle-like movements that synchronize with sound. These
responsive shaders translate sound into spatial force, allowing the digital environment
to breathe and evolve around the participant’s motion.

System Architecture:
Multisensory, Auto-reactive Worldbuilding Pipeline 

System Synthesis:
OSC-Driven Audio Reactivity
A live dialogue between sound and space. This pipeline uses a custom soundtrack to modulate Gaussian splat fields in real-time. By translating audio frequencies into spatial forces via OSC, the environment moves beyond static capture to become a responsive, breathing ecology that evolves alongside the participant.

Medium Specificity:
One-Shot Multilevel Navigation
A multilevel, single-shot journey exploring the non-rigid materiality of Gaussian Splatting. As participants move through a continuous sequence, the medium’s fluid logic allows the world to shatter and reform without geometric constraints. Sound and motion act as spatial forces, reshaping miniature craft into monumental urban voids—an experience unique to the transformative nature of the splat field.



Penjing World v3.0:
Volumetric VR & Audio-Reactive System
Timeline: Forthcoming Exhibition, 2026
Advancing into its next phase, "Penjing World" presents an innovative synthesis of Gaussian Splatting, real-time VR interactivity, and audio-reactivity. It advances creative methodologies that bridge volumetric capture, procedural worldbuilding, and multisensory storytelling. Beyond technical innovation, it proposes a poetic framework for reimagining how multiscalar craft, sound, and motion converge within participatory, experiential digital ecologies.

The installation creates a dual-layered experience: internally immersive for the VR participant and externally performative for the audience. Large-scale projections broadcast the live VR feed, allowing bystanders to witness the environment shift and distort in response to the participant’s presence and the synchronized ambient soundtrack.
        This shared perceptual space blurs the boundaries between embodied experience and digital spectatorship. Observers encounter an uncanny visualization of a living, audio-reactive world, turning "Penjing World" into both a solitary and collective act of worldbuilding.




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