Atmospherizing Architecture - outSIDEin

With the installation “outSIDEin” I propose a solution for transforming a shattered location of New York City Subway. I will create cracks in the ceiling and pierce through them simulation a of “God’s light”. The artificial light will be programmed to match the color and intensity of the natural light outside of the tunnel. Bleeding of an outside space into the inside of the underground tunnel will act as unexpected delight to random passers by and as symbolic comment about the need to humanize our everyday spaces. My goal is to enhance the atmosphere of the New York City Subway Tunnel and enrich experience for those walking trough the tunnel. I would consider this project to be successful if it provoked even a subliminal change of inner mood among passers that would reflect in the outside change of their behavior.

I was 10 years old when the war started in my country. During the following 5 years Croatia was under the utter devastation. Great buildings were ruined, entire villages have been cut to the ground, and in some places nothing was left but stones and ashes. With this fallen architecture people also fell down, they were left dead next to their ruins. The ones who survived became refugees from their invaded homes. Population of Zagreb, including my family and me, was forced underground, surviving on inadequate supplies of food and water. This process of destruction ended 10 years ago, but the destructions stayed. Country is still rebuilding and people are recovering. Some continue to be maimed and killed by 3 millions of explosive devices left behind from the war. Landmines or unexploded bombs were hidden under the national parks, sheep fields, and other landscapes to which mostly children come upon while playing with friends or walking to school. Such ongoing human tragedies affect entire families and communities, and create environment of fear and despair.
Growing up in Croatia, I learned that politics has a powerful influence on people’s everyday lives and that it can reduce life to chaos, disorder, and helplessness. People could not prevent these destructions, they ended up being innocent victims, but they had to be put everything back together. I also learned how to repair broken things, clean up somebody else’s mass, and see fragmented landscapes as a whole. Patched-up things felt much better than being around broken things. It reconstructed my environment into the place of better and creative atmosphere. I continuo to do this as a professional artist, my artwork has to be beautiful, even when its content is political and ugly.
My experience leads me to believe that people are affected by the space they inhabit. The kind of space they inhabit determines the kind of experience they will have from it and in it. Constructed space, architecture, has the power to construct an experience for its inhabitants. This relationship between environments and human behavior, and how they affect one other has been studied by the science of environmental psychology. According to environmental psychologists, light, color, sound, temperature and odor are elements of space that can be manipulated to improve the experience of a space. My goal is to manipulate those elements and improve the experience a space by use of interactive art. I am especially interested in using interactive art to transform the atmosphere of deteriorated public spaces into a gratifying experience. I call this process atmospheric architecture.
I believe that interactive media, more than other forms, has the potential to activate spaces and prompt the viewers to respond, often unconsciously. I have been examining all occurring examples of interactive art in conjunction with architecture. Many of them are beautiful, some are just hip, but are not truly interactive. Many that are interactive become obsolete almost as soon as they are installed. In my research I have been determining the reoccurring problems of interactive art in public spaces and found solutions for ongoing, efficient interaction with the public. Through efficient use of so-called atmospheric architecture I attend to prove that it is possible to realize the interaction among public and facilitate act of sharing artwork. I will prove it by proposing an interactive artwork for the New York City Subway Tunnel trough which millions of people rush trough to get from one station to another.
Everything that I have ever created has been concerned with space. I have started examining the broad phenomenon of space while creating physical theatre performances for public spaces that were about personal space. This was the theme of “2 Laconic Persons of The Box” in which one protagonist of the play was contrived to the box while the other was wondering in the open public space. I continued my examination by adding video to performances. ”The Crash” used video to unite a performer’s location in Zagreb, Croatia with a performer in New York, USA. The results were intriguing and this led me to making more video. I created an interactive video installation about Croatia to contrast the natural landscape of the country I come from with its social landscape. I followed by making, “Balkans“, an interactive video installation about the stereotypes of the region. The rest of my work is about space in its purest form. “Nice Sea Sky”, “More” and “Underwater Love” are interactive video installations about the sea. “Head in the Clouds” is another interactive video installation that follows the movement of the sky.
I believe that the reason for this spatial fixation is my strong belief that environment has great impact on how people feel and behave. Therefore, it is important to create enriching environments for people to inhabit, and to improve atmospheres of spaces that have been deteriorating. The most deteriorated spaces are those that belong to everyone, public spaces. That means that the broad public has been impacted the most by the negative experience of declined spaces. One way to give back public space to public is by the use of art. This would also make art accessible to all and began to reverse against the trend of public spaces being rapidly privatized, commercialized and controlled by the state.

Sources of my inspiration are works of Dan Flavin, James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson, Toyo Ito, Christian Moeller, Electroland, Jason Bruges, Herzog& De Meuron, Light Architecture, Lebbeus Woods, Tadao Ando, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Usman Haque, and Walter DeMaria. These are contemporary artists and architects who use light, color, and geometry to immerse viewers into an atmosphere of sensations. They use natural and artificial materials, as well as natural environments and architecture, to create experience for the viewers. I am especially fascinated with the examples of reintegrating natural landscape with the architctual landscape, and so achiving unified sense of space that has power to influence senses of public.
My additional inspiration comes from examples of using natural elements that create ambience of living spaces are existent since the prehistoric times. Buildings of past civilizations from Egypt to Mexico were involved in incredibly complex space calculations, mathematics and architectural endeavors to achieve aligned position with the solstices and equinoxes. Examples of this are numerous and starting with the Newgrange, a beautiful megalithic site in Ireland built in 5000 BC. It was built to receive a thin beam of sunlight through a precisely aligned opening that penetrates the inner chamber and floods it with blinding light at sunrise on the winter solstice. Light was also directed on to the stone basin below intricate carvings, to illuminate spirals, eye shapes, and solar discs.

General public

By presenting "Atmospherizing Architecture - outSIDEin" at the ITP Spring Show 2006, I will provide visitors information about atmospheric architecture and present them my ideas surrounding the topic. Presentation will be based on a computer that can be browsed through, but I will also personally present it to visitors. Part of the presentation of the project that I propose to execute as an atmospheric will also be presented by physical architectural model that will stand beside the computer. User can view pictures, 3d models, and physical model that illustrate my idea about atmospheric architecture.

For the Spring Show I have prepared flash based presentation about atmospherized architecture and “outSIDEin” project as an example atmospherized architecture that should be presented on a computer. This can be browsed through, but I plan to personally present it to visitors. Beside the computer will also stand architectural model of “outSIDEin” project with simulation of the interactive light shining through it. Except computer, I would need stand to place model of a project which is 25 inch long and 15 inches wide. All of this is done, and this is the project I want to present more than the other one I have submitted.

Atmospherizing deteriorated architecture has purpose of creating more compelling experience of the space that appeals to all senses. It uses elements like light, color, temperature, and sound to raise perpetual awareness about the space. “outSIDEin” installation is meant to atmospherize piece of deteriorated space and as such raise awareness about the difference between atmospherized and deteriorated space. Every space provides certain kind of experiences, but of different sorts. “outSIDEin” installation aims to provoke compelling moment in the middle of the dreary space.