In 2006, in Tokyo, I saw the future. Specifically, I witnessed an entirely new way people would use—and be shaped by—technology. The smartphone was a relatively recent phenomenon in the U.S. at that time, yet it was omnipresent in Japan. On subways, in cafes, and in crowded streets, the Japanese people embraced the device with a religious fervor. Eyes once turned elsewhere now stared at tiny screens. Sound familiar? Once a novel experience, this future is now the world's common reality.
I recently saw an alternative future—this time at an exhibition in Beijing called “Living Digital Forest and Future Park” by TeamLab. Like the birth of the smartphone, the Japanese multimedia group’s vision establishes a compelling new use for digital technology. However, it differs in a fundamental way that has significant implications for the built environment: whereas personal electronic devices have encouraged individuals to draw their focus inward, "Living Digital Forest" digitally adopts architecture as its canvas—promoting in a more immersive, interactive, and engaging experience.
Founded by Toshiyuki Inoko in Tokyo in 2001, TeamLab is a large interdisciplinary group of artists, engineers, and designers focused on expanding the spatial and cultural possibilities of digital media. One of TeamLab’s core concepts is “Ultrasubjective Space.” Derived from theories of spatial recognition based on pre-modern Japanese art—which contemporary viewers often describe as flat—this approach is critical to the success of TeamLab’s many immersive environments. According to the artists’ exhibition catalog, “TeamLab believes… that people use their eyes like an extremely weak camera. They continuously take an infinite number of mental photos of their surroundings, synthesizing the huge volume of these images in their brains, thereby creating an understanding of those images spatially.”
For example, the primary space at the current Pace Gallery Beijing show features a projection-based installation called “Flower Forest.” Upon entry, visitors are immediately bathed in colorful fields of flower petals that slowly disintegrate and reform. Fabric tiles enable the walls and floor to function as display screens, and the inclusion of mirrored surfaces intensifies the experience while confusing one’s depth perception. Remarkably, the visual effect appears seamless as projectors remain mostly inconspicuous, and despite the use of a large, irregular volume with interpenetrating galleries. Rather than employ multidimensional projections, "Flower Forest" projects flattened images that—when aligned perfectly with interior surfaces—become part of the architecture. Like being immersed in a Japanese scroll painting, each view is meaningful, and each location allows the individual to interpret his or her surroundings uniquely.
Not only do the physical surfaces in "Living Digital Forest" seemingly come to life, but they also employ creative means for user interactivity. TeamLab’s interfaces involve architectural surfaces and mechanisms that require visitor awareness and movement. (Many of their works also enable users to exert control via smartphone applications.) The “Wander through the Crystal Universe” installation consists of a three-dimensional, fully occupiable array of responsive LEDs. The scale of the space is dramatically amplified by the use of mirrored walls, floor, and ceiling, conveying a sense of infinite depth. As visitors navigate the space via a meandering pathway, their motions trigger various changes in light hue and intensity. “While Crystal Universe is created by elements selected by the viewers, each action or change affects the other,” the artists write. “The viewer's position within the artwork also influences how the work is created; thus, the artwork is continuously changing.” In this way, we see the nature of the digital interface fundamentally redefined. Rather than being limited to small screens or portable devices, interactivity permeates the architectural environment, which becomes an all-encompassing canvas for user control.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of TeamLab’s use of digital media is how it transforms the nature of social interaction. According to the artists' statement, “TeamLab believes...that digital art can create new relationships between people.” Most traditional media and art galleries are designed as individual experiences as visitors seek to view a painting or sculpture at an optimal distance, without obstruction, and the presence of others can present an unwelcome distraction. In contrast, TeamLab’s works are designed to become more lively and engaging with more people (up to a limit, as the gallery’s occupant numbers are strictly controlled). “Digital art has the ability to change the relationship among people who are present within the same space,” explains the group. This interaction is most evident in the “Future Park” space, which is populated with multimedia installations that invite “co-creative” actions by visitors of all ages. For example, “Sketch Town” invites users to draw and scan their own vehicles—which soon appear as animated actors within a large urban cartoon scene. “Connecting! Block Town” maps a playful cityscape onto a horizontal surface, reconfiguring itself as users manipulate physical object-buildings. “A Table where Little People Live” similarly projects interactive elements on a tabletop, which users modify collaboratively with various shared physical tools.
The tightly orchestrated marriage of audiovisual content and physical surfaces represents a significant step forward for both digital media and architecture, and it is easy to imagine how such an approach could be applied more broadly to a variety of building types and programs: children’s classrooms could become immersive platforms for kinesthetic creativity, hospitals could introduce expansive natural tableaus to promote healing, and office spaces could employ more sophisticated light and acoustic controls to enhance the qualities of different types of work. Furthermore, TeamLab envisions this phenomenon to be applicable at an urban scale: “if cities were to become more like digital artworks, the presence of other people could become a positive element,” argues the groups. “In this way, the search for new relationships between people may be able to go beyond art, potentially creating new relationships between cities and individuals, as well as new ways to bring peace among people.”
Most importantly, "Living Digital Forest" demonstrates how space can be a powerful attractor. “Upon entering the exhibition, what is striking is how many people are drawn to immerse themselves completely within the installation,” artist Diane Willow tells ARCHITECT. “People want to be saturated in the images.” Such an experience is simply not possible with a smartphone.
"Living Digital Forest and Future Park" will be on display until October 10.
