Relative Space

RELATIVE SPACE

Relative Space is an experimental installation that confounds the principle of humans developing space.

Instead of designing architecture a building or a room for a particular purpose, and therefore a specific usage of this space we want temporary, changeable volumes to be created based on the number of people occupying it, without specification. With the attempt to understand the spatial needs of humans comes a deep and complex matrix of research about density, crowding, and the perception of interpersonal distance, that has its basis in instinctual behaviour patterns and cultural norms.

The role of the body is essential both in the perception and in the alteration of the physical connotation of a space. The aim of this project is to obtain a particular spatial condition, that responds physically to the viewers presence and movements and that is relative to the number of people inhabiting the room.

Beginning with a non-existant space, the entrance of a person leads the ceiling to react and open up an accessible fragment. The more people approach or wander into the room, the more space becomes available.

The threshold of the volume increase is itself a variable; a reduction in space could potentially also take place, even though the ’’natural’’ space requirement based on the amount of attendees is thought to be different. Can those requirements be measured and described in numbers? Is this entirely relative? Is there an objective balance, or is it a subjective sensory experience?

This is what we and the audience stand to find out.

The installation is composed of a room created with fabric that is suspended by a system of wires. Six central anchor points react to the approaching visitors. An arrangement of different motors is connected to the wires, which serve to contract or release the envelope of the fluctuating structure according to the proximity of people.

An interactive projection reflects the movement in the room. The entire system is controlled by a network of two computers.