What will the cities of the future be like? Smart? Liquid? Hyper-connected? Will our lives be better? And will nature still be our joint tenant? A startling installation in Moscow reminds us that we are living in a liquid era in which everything is in continual evolution. Everything is fluid and nothing is clear-cut. Liquidity should also be a synonym for openness, renewal, collaboration and dialogue. But, especially, colour.
The “Future Materiality” is an installation with a great evocative power. It has been developed by Citymakers and designed by “Pravda” architectural bureau. Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow is the curator for this project.
Project team’s goal was to describe the city of the future avoiding literal quotes. The installation contemplates the changes happening in Moscow. The city here is associated with a river - permanent in place but constantly changing. “Future Materiality” is trying to extrapolate the spatial experience letting the spectator develop their own perception of the project. That is to say, the changes in the city are not just new buildings, roads, or parks, but the experience of sunlight reflection, street noise, sunset shadow or smell of linden blossom. City experience modifies simultaneously with its development. “Future materiality” creates a statement for the significant future city changes that is to protect citizens from unpleasant experiences, to preserve essential, and to add new unexplored and unusual ones.
T- and C-shaped spatial components are composed into a reflecting labyrinth creating each visitor’s multiple copies. That’s how the spectator becomes a part of the installation. Acrylic panels are covered with a multi-coloured dichroic film that transforms from transparent to reflective depending on a visual angle.
Inside of the labyrinth, an audio fantasy sounds. It has elements of electronics, city noises, music from classic Soviet movies as well as Shostakovich's operetta. At the very center of “Future materiality”, the visitor is able to transform the audio environment by interacting with Moscow’s three symbolic materials, glass, granite, and steel.
Future Materiality
New Manege Exhibition Hall
Moscow