ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the use of public space for projections of art installations, performances and as a large-scale communication surface. We provide the historical background by discussing early or renowned architectural projections, such as the seminal work Son et lumière by Paul Houdin-Robert at Château de Chambord in France, 1952. The relationship of an active perception of architecture and computer-generated visuals is also illustrated by works such as Krzysztof Wodiczko’s Interrogative Design approach, Jeffrey Shaw’s The Legible City or Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Displaced Emperors. The chapter then goes beyond using architecture as a blank surface. It analyses the architectural potential of ‘architectural projections,’ shows its relations to traditional illumination of buildings and discusses the potential to enhance architecture curricula. It thereby builds on the work carried out at the Chair of Information Architecture of ETH Zurich, both in terms graduate courses taught and research carried out to establish foundational concepts and techniques, mainly inherited from spatial augmented reality and traditional ‘linear perspective’ as employed since the Renaissance. To conclude the chapter, we highlight the possibilities of extending architecture with Live Visuals, with example works in dance music clubs, in public spaces such as train stations and at popular city festivals where large custom-built light-emitting diode (LED) light sculptures have been installed.
