Media Architecture Institute

BLITZFÄNGER is an interactive installation that allows up to 9 people to create and control lightning on a large-scale LED screen. As a homage to the power of nature and our attempt to control it, the audience is invited to grab one of the 3 meter poles from the floor and position them vertically like lightning rods. As soon as they do a system detects their position and lightnings appear on the LED screen allowing them to control them with their movement.

This project was created as part of the ‘Human Futures’ program of artistic exchange between Europe and Canada and under the ‘living spaces’ curatorial theme. BLITZFÄNGER took place at the entrance of a new residential complex outside of Vienna in between the train and the buildings and was designed to disrupt the routine of the inhabitants that just go in and out of the complex allowing them to get to know, or at least see the people they live around.

Created by Iregular
Concept, graphic and sound design: Daniel Iregui
Technical Direction: François Loubert-Hudon
Technical Assistance: Juan Carvajal
Produced by: Media Architecture Institute
Powered by: X-Agora
Curated by: Gernot Tscherteu

funded by the European Union

„This is going to be a great Kiez-show” – with this headline the biggest German tabloid newspaper commented on the installation of the ONLYGLASS Mediafaçade at the Klubhaus St.Pauli. And they are absolutely right. The spectacular installation of eleven panes for the lift was a big show. In mid-July time had come. In the early morning a huge truck crane arrived at the building site of the future entertainment center. Unfortunately the rain interrupted the whole procedure. The glass panes have a weight of around 600 kilograms and were held by ten huge suction cups when being heaved. Therefore the panes needed to be absolutely dry before the suction cups could be put on it. At 10 a.m. the rain finally stopped and preparations for the installation could start. The tension rose, also for the media representatives. The public Northern German Broadcasting (NDR) even sent a video journalist and an outside broadcast van to report from the building site (The reportage you can find here (in German))

The Media Architecture Institute, together with the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney present outcomes of research and teaching in the field of media architecture in an exhibition hosted by Art Space on The Concourse, Willoughby City Council, located in Chatswood/Sydney. The exhibition is open 23 May to 6 June, Thursday to Saturday, 6pm to 10pm.

UNSW presents the project Hextic, an interactive media wall designed and developed by a student/tutor team of the Bachelor of Computational Design led by Dr Hank Haeusler, that has been previously exhibited at the Sydney Architecture Festival 2014. The rest of the team were Rebekah Araullo and Eliot Rosenberg, with artists Dominque Heraud, Annisa Rizal, Alexander Lee, Jordon Blanket, Andrew McDonald, Tomislav Livaja, Peter Mitchell and Dara Ten.

The University of Sydney presents Metastasis, an interactive light installation designed and developed by a collaborative team of students and lecturers from the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, and previously exhibited at Tin Sheds Gallery as well as among historical colonial ruins at The Rocks, Sydney. The artists are Luke Hespanhol, Martin Tomitsch, Eduardo Barata and Philipp Peltz (audio).

In addition to the two interactive projects the exhibition includes a poster showcase of five projects featured in the book publication New Media Facades (av edition).

The Concourse will also be home of the next Media Architecture Biennale, taking place 2-4 June 2016.

Located on the east side of Huangpu River, near the Lujiazuei International Financial District and a striking contrast to the neo-classical buildings along the Bund on the opposite river bank, Shanghai Pearl TV Tower is not only the most remarkable building in Shanghai, but has become the symbolic icon that illuminating the energetic and cultural image of Shanghai City that continuously showcases her beauty to the world.

Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower was built and completed on 1 October, 1994. Though twenty years have come and gone, this iconic Tower has seen an influx of thousands and upon thousands of visitors from all over the world, coming together to embrace the beauty of this Pearl Tower.

As planned, the outdoor lighting system has been re-designed and renovated every decade in order to usher in a new era that shows the best of her beauty to the world. This year, 2014, marks Phase 2 of the renovation, which stands for the most advanced outdoor lighting design and technology. It is expected to attain the world-class level as well as showing the culture, technology, innovation, romance and irresistible charm that surprises all visitors all over the world not only to behold but to gain an amazing experience. StrongLED, as the responsible company for the execution of phase 2 of the project, has achieved an outstanding work.

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UTV and UNSW Art & Design proudly present the ✗Communicate (Cross Communicate) Symposium and Exhibition as part of the Vivid Ideas program 2015. Curated by Lubi Thomas ✗Communicate will take place at UNSW’s Paddington Campus on Friday 5th June 2015. More detailed information about ✗Communicate and registration links can be found at www.x-communicate.net and www.vividsydney.com

PROJECT SYNOPSIS
✗Communicate is a symposium of shared experiences and aspirations presented by a network of individuals, organisations and research institutes working in an evolving field of community engagement, urban screens and placemaking in the digital age. ✗Communicate will bring together a spectrum of voices from across the local, national and international digital/new media, community engagement and media architecture sectors. Through a structure of interrelated sessions, ✗Communicate proposes to take participants on a journey of conversations that thread together an emerging community, founded on a culture of experimentation, innovation and reflective evaluation.
This symposium discussion is a prelude to a major International Media Architecture Conference on Digital Placemaking and Smart Cities being organised by the Media Architecture Institute and UTV for Vivid 2016 to be hosted at The Concourse in Chatswood. www.mab16.mediaarchitecture.org

SYMPOSIUM FORMAT
The symposium format includes an opening keynote and morning session before breaking for a networking lunch. There are two shorter afternoon sessions followed by a panel discussion. Following the closing session a VIP networking evening event will be held in the UNSW Art & Design courtyard and will include a live VJ performance from our international VJ artist, Christine Coulange, brought to you by Videospread, France. ✗Communicate will also launch the prototype of ‘Discussions in Space (DiS)’, a platform that has been developed for public screens by UTV in collaboration with University of Sydney, UNSW and QUT and funded by The Henry Halloran Trust. The platform offers an interactive, fast-paced social media channel for local governments, organisations or institutions to engage with local residents or visitors in public spaces. ✗Communicate will close with a range of video art works through until 9pm, including a program by French Curator Céline Jouenne from Videospread, student works curated by UNSW TV and a video artwork by Glen Henderson titled “The Lightness Matrix 3 Grande Search”.

  Smart Citizen Lab (SCL) ist eine Veranstaltungsserie in der Seestadt aspern und eine damit verknüpfte Informationskampagne. Beide Maßnahmen zielen darauf ab die Entwicklung Wiens zu einer „Smart City“ zu unterstützen, indem sie möglichst viele Wienerinnen und Wiener informieren und zum Mitmachen einladen. SCL widmet sich inhaltlich folgenden Bereichen:

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Wohnen und Energie (Smart Home, Wohnen im Niedrigenergie- / Passivhaus, energieeffiziente Leuchtmittel, Möbelauswahl, …)

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Ressourcen (Reparieren, teilen und tauschen, Foodcoops, Tauschkreise, digitale Plattformen, Gemeinschaftsgärten…)

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Mobilität (Carsharing, Mobiltätspools, Fahrradverkehr, Leihräder, Routenplanung, …) ExpertInnen, UnternehmerInnen und PionierInnen teilen dabei ihr Wissen und ihre Erfahrungen mit Menschen, die selbst aktiv werden wollen. Neben dem Transfer von Know-how ist dabei auch der Aufbau von sozialen Strukturen und die Bildung von Initiativen von großer Bedeutung. Erst durch die Einbeziehung und die Vernetzung ihrer Bürgerinnen und Bürger wird eine Smart City nachhaltig. Wien braucht seine „Smart Citizens“ um die ehrgeizigen Ziele der „Smart City Wien Rahmenstrategie“ zu erreichen. Smart Citizens Lab ist ein gemeinsames Projekt des Media Architecture Institute und der ÖGUT und wird gefördert von der Wirtschaftsagentur Wien, einem Fonds der Stadt Wien.   weitere Infos und Termine:   http://smartcitizens.at/

The Media Architecture Institute is proud to announce that we have opened a MAI branch in China. The new MAI China office is situated at China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts, one of most competitive art schools in China and a longtime partner of the institute. The local MAI China director is Professor Chang Zhigang, Vice Dean of the architecture department at CAFA. The new MAI branch was formally established during the Beijing Media Architecture Summit and exhibition 2015, held during the 15th and the 16th of April at CAFA museum. Through the new branch in China MAI is directly positioned in the largest and fastest growing country of media architecture and it allows the institute to research deeper into the issues of media architecture, smart cities and digital place making. All three MAI offices in Vienna, Sydney and Beijing are working now together on further exhibitions, prototype installations, book publications and organising events around the globe such as the upcoming Media Architecture Summit America 2015 in Boston, Media Architecture Summit Europe 2016 in Frankfurt and the Media Architecture Biennale 2016 in Sydney. We welcome Prof. Chang to the MAI team and look forward to the future collaborations in researching media architecture topics in China.

The Shin Kong Shopping Mall has just finished a Media Facade. For the construction of the facade about 34000 MF-S26 pixels were used. The pixels are attached with a steel construction to the facade of the building. The leds have a special construction where all the electrical connections are hidden.

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“Media architecture as a key player in Smart and Ubiquitous City concepts”

Media Architecture grow at the intersection of physical and digital space, it is also the combination of art and technology, a fusion of architecture, communication, public art, urban science, sociology, economics, as well as LED technology, internet technology, interactive technology, intelligent control, computer science and other fields and disciplines.

Media Architecture have only emerged to the world less than 20 years, however it is developing very rapidly in recent years, especially in China, where it has become a powerful force, leading to the transformation of urban landscape as well as the changes of people’s mind. The development of Media Architecture is causing the changes in industry chain as well as the changes in the decision making process of building design, thus fosters the birth of new industries. Brings up entirely genuine challenges and opportunities, Media Architecture is an important trend in the 21st century architecture and urban development.

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The Flederhaus media façade is a collaboration between the Media Architecture Institute and Artportal. It is an experimental platform that artists, designers and citizens can use to visualize data, create interactive experiences and realize performative projects. This project opens a space of social interchange in Vienna, that citizens can use to discuss, share experiences, meet their neighbors and, ultimately, create a thriving urban life. (more…)