I’ve got mixed feelings about today, but I think I’ll discuss my perplexities during the general wrap-up if I manage to do one. For now, here’s my top 3.
3. Ducati
It’s a small exhibition, but totally worth the visit, in a pavilion at the back of the Science and Technology Museum. Why is it worthy it? Because it perfectly conveys the process behind Ducati’s design and… well, they’re crazy. They make sketches, then they turn sketches into a 3d model to be rendered, then they do a miniature physical model, from which they create a life-size clay model (yeah, you heard me right), then they do a 3d scan of the clay model, they turn it into another digital model, they optimize and produce the pieces for another physical model and then, only then, they start working on the actual motorbike.
This is the clay motorbike: the sketches are in the header.
2. Lexus
I knew to expect much, and Beyond the Horizon didn’t disappoint: Hideki Yoshimoto presents an incredible light and sound setting with lamps that integrate motion sensors, one of the trends of this Design Week, light and the traditional Washi paper.
At the centre is the astonishing new electrical concept car, the LF-ZC.
1. Samsung
I didn’t have high expectations for this installation and I was so wrong. Going through 5 rooms (4+1 really) in the stunning setting of Le Cavallerizze near the Science and Technology Museum, the exhibition is called Newfound Equilibrium and has the visitors go through a first room where sound is the main character.
The dreamy scent of hibiscus welcomes you into a place where coziness meets sophistication, launching the audience on a sensory journey, and blurring the boundaries between the virtual and the physical.
After walking past soft, translucent panels, the audience enter the first exhibition space, <Essential>, and encounter five translucent cubes. Inside each cube, there are freely moving, irregular forms of light that appear to float through space. The rhythmic movement of the cubes in time to music symbolizes the essential building blocks of our human thoughts and existence, our emotions, and our pursuit of the future. A new journey begins, envisioning a radiant future expressed by a kaleidoscope of lights, and drawing inspiration from the essential.
In the second room, “Innovative”, the show becomes interactive and you’re prompted to step in front of two giant folding LCDs: one recreates the crumble of stones following your steps, and the other does the same with soft, rustling vegetal fabrics. The complete models are showcased behind.
In <Innovative>, the objects that were free-floating in the cubes transition to a 98-inch large display. They’re reborn as forms with a new sense of vitality when they meet motion-sensor technology. […] Through the interaction between humans and technology, the audience gradually discovers the emerging contours of a positive, hopeful future.
Eventually, the newfound shapes merge with the space, with a combination of an LCD in the shape of the windows and a projector simulating light filtering through the glass, in a perfect illusion. “Coexistence in a Serene Landscape” is this room’s motto, in which we try to take down the division between the physical and the digital in a way that’s soothing and proactive.
The audience simultaneously experiences the reality where they stand and a fragment of hyper-reality unfolding beyond the window, finding themselves in an all-inclusive future where humans and technology naturally collaborate, considering everything and everyone.
The last piece of the exhibition is an enveloping room where it all comes together. “Infinite Dream” blends the two experiences of the virtual and the real into two kinds of virtual, which is not very far from what we’re experiencing with the rise of immersive experiences and artificial intelligence.
Truly astonishing.
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