Operation Jane Walk

Tom Clancy’s The Division is a popular video game set in a post-apocalyptic New York. The buildings are partially in ruins, abandoned cars litter the streets and the rule of law has collapsed. This bleak cityscape can only be treaded in full combat gear—this is the backdrop for Operation Jane Walk.

Rather than taking on the role of a vigilante, the players become peaceful digital tourists on an architectural tour of the city. The guide explains the recent history of the architecture in light of political developments, and takes them to a number of iconic buildings that include UN Headquarters, the former Pan Am Building and Trump Tower. The city he shows is the scene of a conflict between the highway-building public official Robert Moses and the activist Jane Jacobs, author of the well-known book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Accompanied by a clever soundtrack, the result combines absurdism and black humor in an alternative writing of history.