Archinect - News

In an Ontario plaza, interactive pavements play music ‘as if by magic’

2024-02-28T13:28:00-05:00

Montreal-based studio Daily tous les jours has completed a public space design in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Titled 'River Lines,' the project saw the creation of an interactive stage in an urban plaza for big impromptu musical ensembles.

Video credit: doublespace photography

Part of the studio’s wider Musical Pavement series, the interactive wave-patterned pavement is embedded with 62 sensing light rings that “get people moving through musical collaboration exercises.” The infrastructure is formed of twelve in-house tailored audio tiles that have no visible hardware and blend with the wider pavement pattern, meaning “music emanates from the ground as if by magic.”

Image credit: doublespace photography

Located on the site of a 19th-century foundry, the artwork is “a response to the historical nature of the site” and “an exemplar of how investment in the public realm is essential to reimagine and activate places and encourage collective interacti...

“Inflatable Museum” to provide additional learning support to disadvantaged areas of Manchester

2016-04-18T12:43:00-04:00

An “Inflatable Museum” is about to be launched in Greater Manchester with the aim of bringing exhibits and educational programmes to schools in disadvantaged districts of the city. It is transportable in a van, can be blown up in under half an hour and can accommodate a full school class. It incorporates moveable cabinets, a large open presentation area and high definition projection equipment.

Relating stories in the Archinect News:

Scroll through the "new New York Skyline" with this interactive infographic

2015-11-17T19:20:00-05:00

Evidently, the Big Apple is packed with big buildings, and several more are on the way. National Geographic created a spiffy interactive infographic called "The New New York Skyline" that envisions which towers are sprouting up along the Manhattan skyline in the next few years. Scroll sideways and hover your cursor over the color-coded towers to read some factoids about these newcomers. You can also switch from "Skyline View" to 3-D view for spots like the One World Trade Center Complex, Hudson Yards, and "Billionaires' Row" at 57th Street Corridor.

Screenshots via National Geographic.

Check out the graphic here.

More infographics on Archinect:

Infographic: the cheapest and most expensive countries to live in

Budget Busters: ranking the world's most overbudget monuments

Where are the women? Measuring progress on gender in architecture

35 of the world's palaces gathered into one quaint, interactive infographic

New "C-City" museum district breaks ground in The Netherlands

2014-11-01T12:03:00-04:00

Continium. Cube. Columbus. What sounds like characters in a comic book series is really the three defining components in "C-City", a new museum district located at the entrance into the Dutch-German border town of Kerkrade. Designed by Rotterdam-based Shift Architecture Urbanism, the €20.5 million project recently broke ground and is currently scheduled to open by the end of 2015.

C-City will bring technology, science, and design in one integrated museum district. Next to the existing Discovery Centre Continium will be the C-Square, a sunken-square space for student labs, restaurants, and other public amenities. C-Square will also serve as an underground pathway landscape that connects all of C-City's facilities.

The Continium will also be joined by the Cube and Columbus buildings. The Cube will house The Netherland's first design museum whereas Columbus was designed as an inverse planetarium theater — making it the first building of its kind in Europe. In addition to the museum gall...

"Hacking" Rem Koolhaas' 2014 Venice Biennale with Project Source Code

2014-09-24T15:33:00-04:00

Hacking an architecture exhibition through augmented reality? Yes, there's an app for that. "Project Source Code" is a digital guerrilla-style exhibition created by architect/artist/researcher Güvenç Özel that lets mobile-device users "hack" key works in Rem Koolhaas' "Elements of Architecture" exhibit currently at the 2014 Venice Biennale. Blending digital and physical space, the project is deemed to be the first to use augmented reality on a live exhibition and also the first time that raw 3D architectural models are treated as exhibition pieces.

Ozel's selection includes 6 pioneering works he directly acquired (with prior approval) from contemporary architects and designers known for their use of digital design techniques. This includes Asymptote Architecture, Greg Lynn FORM, Neil M. Denari Architects, and Oosterhuis_Lénárd.

Ozel fully explains his project in the info he provided below:

PROJECT SOURCE CODE

"In the field of computer science, SOURCE CODE refers to a set of instructions...

35 of the world's palaces gathered into one quaint, interactive infographic

2014-06-26T14:19:00-04:00

Although it can't compare to experiencing their grandeur in real life, Movoto gives a snapshot of 35 of the world's most recognized palaces in one interactive infographic. The Movoto team created the graphic and focused on analyzing palaces to catch a glimpse of the power, wealth, the rich history, and the architectural styles of various countries.

Hovering over the infographic displays each palace's dimensions (to scale, based on pixels), descriptions, resident, and current status.

See the full infographic here.

Koolhaas guides viewers through bustling Lagos in this interactive documentary

2014-06-24T18:51:00-04:00

The documentary Lagos Wide and Close - An Interactive Journey into an Exploding City, arose from Rem Koolhaas' 2001 visit to Lagos, Nigeria with filmmaker Bregtje van der Haak, hoping to document a phase in one of Africa's fastest growing cities. The doc's unique direction allows viewers to switch between two video and three audio channels in realtime, mixing and matching different perspectives on the city. At once documenting Lagos from the personal perspective of bus driver Olawole Busayo ("Close"), and an aerial urban view ("Wide"), the interactive piece samples from Busayo's daily journey, interviews with Lagos' citizens, and comments by Koolhaas.

After visiting in 2001, Koolhaas continued to research Lagos throughout the early 'aughts with the Project on the City at Harvard's GSD, leading to the interactive documentary's release on DVD in 2004. The film is now available to experience online, where viewers can take full advantage of the multi-modal storytelling, and flip through ...

Analyzing modernism with a multi-faceted view in the 2014 Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

2014-06-20T14:09:00-04:00

The Spanish pavilion "Interior" at the 2014 Venice Biennale conveys its multi-layered concept with an enticing labyrinth-like design. Visitors can formulate their own experience as they walk through the open maze, which is "guided" by large images of contemporary and traditional Spanish architecture.

The pavilion is set up as an interactive exploration of Spanish modernism throughout the last century, mixed in with other main points like the influence of digital technology, or comparing traditional Spanish architecture with the contemporary. Sio2 Arch (formerly F451arquitectura) designed the exhibition, which was curated by Iñaki Abalos, Lluis Ortega, Enrique Encabo, and Inmaculada El Maluenda.

More photos and other details on Bustler.

Bright nights at TED2014 Vancouver with Chrome-powered aerial sculpture

2014-03-19T17:47:00-04:00

Donning a spectrum of colors and moving beams of light, the "Unnumbered Sparks" installation comes to life every night as it hovers near the site of the 30th anniversary TED2014 world conference in downtown Vancouver, Canada.

Artist Janet Echelman and director of the Google Data Art Group Aaron Koblin -- who both spoke at TED2011 -- collaborated in designing the aerial sculpture just in time for TED2014. Echelman officially introduced the work earlier this week at the conference.

The 745-foot net, which is powered by Google Chrome and other modern web technologies, can be choreographed by visitors using their smartphones or tablets to "paint" the sculpture in real time.

Visitors in the area will be able to interact with Unnumbered Sparks every night until Saturday, March 22.

Check out the video below to see the creative process behind the piece.

Hammertone by The Principals at MoMA PS 1

2012-08-03T12:22:00-04:00

"Hammertone is created from a fabric of woven LED strips and paper squares, networked through a series of sensors which read the aural vibrations created by the artists - responding through light, shadow and geometry."

On Saturday August 4, 2012, Brooklyn-based design firm The Principals present from 2pm until 9pm, Hammertone will be performing in collaboration with the musicians Lemonade, Pearson Sound and Jamie XX at MoMA PS 1's Summer Warm Up series.

Cosmic Quilt

2012-04-17T17:06:00-04:00

We were thrilled when our friend Drew Seskunas, one of the founders of the fledgling design studio The Principals- based out of Brooklyn, shared their latest project with us. The "Cosmic Quilt" is an awesome exploration of interactive architecture being created for May's New York Design Week. Check out their video above, and their Kickstarter profile here to contribute to the advancement of design, architecture and a promising young studio.

Cosmic Quilt is a new installation/student workshop planned by The Principals for NYC Design Week 2012. The installation will be a responsive architectural environment where space changes form in relation to it's inhabitants. Continuing their commitment to unite new technologies with traditional craftsmanship, The Principals designed a limited edition furniture line inspired by the installation entitled Quilt to be sold through Kickstarter to help fund the project.

Apologue's Tali Krakowsky To Speak On Experience Design At Eyeo Festival & PromaxBDA

2011-06-14T14:26:11-04:00

Tali Krakowsky, founder of experience design studio Apologue, will be speaking at the Eyeo Festival on June 27th and June 28th in Minneapolis, and at the 2011 PromaxBDA Conference on June 30th in NYC.

At the Eyeo Festival, Krakowsky will be moderating in two panels. On June 27th is a panel that wonders “WHY” and features Golan Levin, Natalie Jeremijenko, and Zach Lieberman. Why do we do what we do? Why should our spaces be infused with the digital? Why data? Why code? Why generative? Why collaborative? Why interactive? Why color? Why sound? Why touch? Why do frameworks have to be open? Why design?

June 28th will feature a panel called “Coding Spaces” with Emily Gobeille, Theo Watson and Jake Barton. Peep behind walls made of bits and bytes to unravel and contemplate the art and science of imagining, coding and building interactive environments. The panel will search for some general process ideas, tips, warnings, recommendations and insights into the making of these fascinatin...