New Digital Architecture Magazine on Architecture and Interior

Innovation & Technology exhibition, January 8 - March 16, 2008

House of Sweden, Washington D.C. (and Second House of Sweden, Second Life)

Mr Kobayashi & Mr Matèrn, also known as the young swedish - japanese architect duo; studio un/real, continues to stretch the spatial boundries between real and virtual life.

With this new media art/architecture installation, designed in collaboration with architects Kristin Gausdal and Markus Wagner for the House of Sweden in Washington D.C. they give the visitors the possibility to, not only, telephone people in the virtual online world of Second Life, but to actually experience a spatial state of beeing inbetween the real and the virtual.

‘We really try to give the visitors an experience of a unique atmosphere of beeing inbetween the pixel produced hard digital computer world and our real DNA based soft and very tactile everyday life.’ says Mr Kobayashi, architect, partner and the japanese half of studio un/real.

The work, commissioned by the Swedish Institute, has already been presented live by FOX 5 morning news as ‘beyond cool’, and has also been chosen by the Washington Times as ‘the most fanciful’ segment of the Innovation & Technology exhibition.

The installation is an addition to an existing exhibition room in the House of Sweden which creates a new spatial experience of that room beeing replaced with its virtual counterpart from the Swedish Embassy in Second Life. Inside the soft and tactile felt shingled ‘twilight zone’-addition visitors can look, not only into, but actually through the virtual room and back into the real common space of the embassy again. Just as they would if they had entered the original room. The visitors are also given the opportunity to pick up a classic swedish Dialog telephone and call into the virtual continuation of the room to communicate with the people in Second Life.

With the use of traditional swedish arts and crafts materials as the felt, wood and the shingle repetition technique for the real life exhibition room addition, studio un/real + TEAM both designed, engineered and constructed the installation in a true Second Life do-it-yourself spirit.

’With this we want to enlighten the connection between the latest technologies and our traditions.’ says Kristin Gausdal, architect, studio un/real TEAM.