This year’s London Design Festival gives visitors the chance to get an immersive experience of Fujimoto’s Medusa with mixed reality glasses.
Exhibition
The virtual structure is a collaborative effort by Fujimoto and Tin Drum, a mixed reality (MR) studio, installed at the V&A Museum in London.
The mixed reality (MR) glasses can be utilised simultaneously by up to 50 guests. They can don the glasses and check out some architectural pieces created by the artist.
Experience
On navigating the Medusa, the structure gets modified and reacts to how the admirers move about.
Yoyo Munk, Chief Science Officer, Yoyo Munk, spoke about the experience. According to Munk, visitors can check the virtual structure at the same rime whilst moving within the gallery space.
Speaking to Dezeen, Munk explained that the structure gets a comprehensive overview of the full group and modifies itself depending on the audience behaviours being observed. It does not focus on individual participants.
Munk added that the structure delves into the differences between collective and singular experiences.
Medusa
The Installation derives its name from the mythological character Medusa, which is also a term used for jellyfish zoologically. Both the influences have contributed to the design philosophy of the installation.
According to Munk, the team behind the project were inspired to strike a balance between the elements of beauty and danger associated with the Medusa name.
Bioluminescence
The mixed reality studio focused on utilising the element of bioluminescence to appeal to the users through the structure.
Munk emphasised further, saying the creation has influences of light sources such as the Northern Lights or aurora borealis, and is centred around the connection of users to light sources.
Speaking about the Northern Lights inspiration, Munk remarked that the neural circuitry related to the pursuing and consumption of prey is somewhat similar to the aurora borealis.
Light
The experience was created to encourage individuals to participate, interact and interact with lights as they make their way through the installation.
Munk revealed that Fujimoto and Tin Drum were both enthusiastic about the prospect of using light as an avenue of architecture. Monk said that the idea of being able to create structures without any defined physical form, and that are only defined by light hitting the eyes of visitors.
According to Monk, human beings can get a spatial sense with an explorable design structure. It effectively modifies the environment that the participants perceive and how they explore and react to something with no actual physical form.
Fujimoto
Sou Fujimoto Architects were set up by Fujimoto in the year 2000. As an architect known for his work on buildings, Fujimoto is also renowned for several installations. One of the notable ones include the Design Miami/Basel project where he made some abstract bookshelves
Fujimoto established Sou Fujimoto Architects in 2000. Although he is best known for his buildings, he has worked on a number of installations. In 2017, he created a series of abstract bookshelves made from thin steel rods for Design Miami/Basel.
London Design Festival 2021 takes place from 18 to 26 September. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
