BlockWorks

BlockWorks is a design collective that produces architectural projects in the sandbox game Minecraft. The company was involved in the design of The Uncensored Library, published by Reporters Without Borders in 2020, which highlights censored reporting from different countries. Corporate and institutional partnerships, including with Minecraft owner Microsoft and the Museum of London, have garnered media attention.

Activities

BlockWorks was founded in 2013 by a group of four friends, including James Delaney of London, who became its managing director. They started the company after noticing how much amount of money popular Minecraft multiplayer servers and Minecraft-playing YouTubers were given in donations by that time. Delaney later studied at the University of Cambridge's department of architecture and trained in neoclassical architecture. The group designs maps within Minecraft's "Creative Mode", a gameplay mode which removes threats normally present in the game's "Survival Mode", with the aid of mods such as WorldEdit and Voxelsniper. By 2016, the company had grown from four people to a team of 42.

A coffee table book of the company's creations, Beautiful Minecraft, was published by No Starch Press.

The Uncensored Library

This section is an excerpt from The Uncensored Library.[edit]

The Uncensored Library is a Minecraft server and map released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and created by BlockWorks, DDB Berlin, and Monks to circumvent censorship in countries without freedom of the press. The library contains banned reporting from the United States, Mexico, Russia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Brazil, Belarus, Iran, and Eritrea. An entire wing is given to each country, each containing several banned articles placed in virtual books. The library was released on 12 March 2020, the World Day Against Cyber Censorship. The two ways to access the library are to download a map from the official website, or to connect to their Minecraft server.

BlockWorks' team of 24 people built the library in around 250 hours. The New York Times observed that Delaney had the library "styled like a Grecian temple, encircled by columns and formal gardens."

Other partnerships

In partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects, BlockWorks held a brief "Brutalist Build" event in 2015 in which a public multiplayer server was hosted for players to construct Brutalist creations. For an exhibition at the Museum of London in 2016, the company created a map which models the Great Fire of London. The company also produced maps to promote films for Warner Bros. Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures in 2015 and 2016.

BlockWorks began regularly working on projects for Minecraft owner Microsoft in 2015; this included a map featured at Microsoft's presentation at the 2016 E3 trade show and a map on the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" for Minecraft: Education Edition. Minecraft changed its guidelines in 2016 to forbid companies from having maps or other Minecraft content produced solely for brand promotion. Later projects included a map modelling Microsoft's planned upgrades to the headquarters campus in 2018; a theme park map for Minecraft creator Mojang Studios to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary in 2019; and a map designed for the band Disclosure's 2020 album Energy.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Edwards, Phil (6 February 2017). "Minecraft isn't just a game. It's an art form". Vox. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moss, Richard (22 July 2016). "Meet 'Minecraft' Builders Who Craft Impossibly Detailed Virtual Worlds". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "Making the most of the river is as easy as playing Minecraft". Cambridge Independent. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  4. 1 2 Bahr, Will (11 March 2026). "Minecraft's Uncensored Library Adds a United States Wing". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  5. ↑ Boddy, Zachary (24 March 2020). "Minecraft showcase: Here's how the company BlockWorks accomplishes magic inside Minecraft". Windows Central. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  6. ↑ "Reporters Without Borders Built a Press-Freedom Library Inside Minecraft". Yahoo News. 19 October 2026. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
  7. ↑ Nelius, Joanna (12 March 2020). "This Minecraft Library Provides a Platform for Censored Journalists". Games. Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  8. ↑ Woodyatt, Amy (13 March 2020). "Minecraft hosts uncensored library full of banned texts". Tech. CNN. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  9. ↑ Cavalcanti, Marcycleis Maria; Siebra, Sandra Albuquerque; Bufrem, Leilah Santiago; Pajeú, Hélio Márcio (13 November 2022). "Uncensored Library Project: a strategy to circumvent censorship in countries predatory of press freedom". Revista Digital de Biblioteconomia e Ciência da Informação. 20 (2022): 1–22. doi:10.20396/rdbci.v20i00.8669187/30478. S2CID 259954325. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  10. ↑ "The MediaMonks Take Us Inside The Uncensored Library". Webby Awards. 30 September 2021. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  11. ↑ "The Uncensored Library". Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  12. ↑ Bahr, Will (11 March 2026). "Minecraft's Uncensored Library Adds a United States Wing". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
  13. ↑ Coldewey, Devin (12 March 2020). "Reporters Without Borders uses Minecraft to sneak censored works across borders". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  14. ↑ Maher, Cian (18 March 2020). "This Minecraft library is making journalism accessible all over the world". Gaming. The Verge. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  15. ↑ "Minecraft 'loophole' library of banned journalism". BBC News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  16. ↑ Warr, Philippa (17 August 2015). "Minecraft's Brutalist Build Yields Beauty". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  17. ↑ Wallace, Amanda (21 July 2016). "Great Fire of London recreated in Minecraft, complete with blaze". Kill Screen. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "Minecraft master-builders BlockWorks make piratical Peter Pan map at the behest of Warner Bros". PCGamesN. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  19. ↑ Novet, Jordan (6 November 2018). "Microsoft employees can use Minecraft to see how the company's upgraded campus will look". CNBC. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  20. ↑ "Microsoft is using Minecraft to help redesign its 500-acre campus". PCGamesN. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  21. ↑ Warren, Tom (6 November 2018). "Microsoft has built a version of its headquarters in Minecraft". The Verge. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  22. ↑ O'Connor, Alice (13 May 2019). "Visit Minecraft's theme park map to celebrate its 10th birthday". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
  23. ↑ Newstead, Al (26 August 2020). "Disclosure built a digital world in Minecraft for their new album". Triple J. Retrieved 22 March 2026.