LEARNING ARCHITECTURE
8th International Conference
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Gallery of Science and Technology
Belgrade, Serbia
4-5 December 2020
Renate Weissenböck & Ruth Ron, KEYNOTERS
Renate Weissenböck is an architect. In her research, she explores the role of different digital media in the design process, such as industrial robots and Augmented Reality.
Ruth Ron is an architect. Her work explores multiple aspects of digital design, focusing on the borders between architecture and technology, form and media.
FROM FLUX SPACE TO FLUX SPACE 4.0
Towards Augmented Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Abstract
This paper re‐visits the authors’ pioneering Augmented Reality installation “Flux Space” from 1999 by addressing the immense advancement of technology over the last two decades. It speculates on the characteristics of “Flux Space 4.0”, an updated version of the project, drawing from the current potentials of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as abundant use of smart mobile devices, enhanced connectivity, shifts in lifestyle and culture. The paper analyses key components that were essential to the success of the original Flux project, it then goes on to review early and contemporary precedents from art and architecture, and finally presents a vision of “Flux Space 4.0”.
In the project “Flux Space” (1999), a digital replica of a specific physical gallery space in New York was modeled and virtually manipulated, e.g. with overlaid images, sound, light, text and color. The animated digital version was then projected back onto the real space. The installation altered the space’s perception and atmosphere by blurring, distorting and deforming the real space. Spectators experienced the virtual space simultaneously as they occupied the real space, while the virtual‐to‐real relationships were in
constant flux.
Building up on the very strong spatial and sensorial effect of “Flux Space”, the outline for “Flux Space 4.0” aims to overcome its binding to specific pre‐defined content. It suggests an extension of physical architecture by overlaying real environments with digital content that can instantly react to changing conditions and needs of the user. “Flux Space 4.0” is envisioned as a spatial interface where users can communicate with their social network, allowing them to three‐dimensionally place digital messages ‐ such as images, movies, 3D models, audio files ‐ into the domestic spaces of their acquaintances. Such augmented spaces are fluid and unfinished, constantly informed and updated.
Bio
Renate Weissenböck is an architect with extensive experience in design and realization of complex projects. She is currently teaching at Graz University of Technology (Austria). In her research, she explores the role of different digital media in the design process, such as industrial robots and Augmented Reality, working in the tension field between human, craft and machine. Renate holds a Master of Architecture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, a Master in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in New York, and a PhD from Graz University of Technology. She has worked with internationally recognized architecture firms Asymptote Architecture and Coop Himmelb(l)au. Renate has been teaching and researching at Vienna University of Technology, University of Innsbruck, Art University Linz, University of Applied Sciences in Munich, and Kennesaw State University in the U.S.
Ruth Ron is an architect currently teaching at the University of Miami School of Architecture. Her work explores multiple aspects of digital design, focusing on the borders between architecture and technology, form and media. Ruth received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, a Master’s Degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University in New York, and a Master’s Degree in Interactive Telecommunication from New York University. She worked for cuttingedge architectural firms in Israel and New York, including Asymptote and LOT‐EK, taught at Arizona State University, the University of Florida, Shenkar College (Israel) and exhibited her work in New York, Seattle, Boston, Georgia, Jerusalem, Florence and Paris.