plug-in landscape
(re)shaping austria – Austrian Pavilion for the International exhibition Astana EXPO-2017
Energy is the matter . Energy is landscape and landscape is energy. By visiting the exhibition, visitors contribute their own share of energy. The space is organized in a way that underlines the narration of the exhibition. The info gate marks the beginning, where visitors waiting to enter receive basic information regarding their personal energy input. Upon entering the main exhibition hall through a turnstile, each guest fills up a balloon with helium, which will then guide them through the main exhibition space, an interactive and walkable energy landscape of Austria. The artificial landscape, a histogram that has been transformed into a 3d installation that visitors can experience with their senses, enables independent and playful interpretation. Visitors directly interact both with other visitors as well as with the exhibition landscape due to the spatial presence of the Teflon fabric. At the points of Interest (POI), guests can connect the balloons equipped with a plug to following overlapping key topics: water, wind, earth and sun. This way, visitors have the chance to establish correlations, acquire knowledge and discover chances in terms of Austrian energy management. They personally experience the impact they have on their living environment.
Through the plug-in balloon, the textile landscape stands out from the map level of the flooring. Floor spotlights backlight the key topic selected by visitors, “holograms” that are integrated in the textile lining transmit thematic chains of associations presenting an interaction between cliché and specificity. The more balloons remain in an area of interest (POI), the more the new topographic transformation of the existing landscape becomes visible, resulting from individual
interests that are bundled. Balloon clusters show thematic priorities and emphasize collective interests. Every single visitor makes an individual contribution to the creation of a common, atmospheric, fascinating mental map, where guests roam. Interactive walls – fabric covered frames show multimedia data with information on weather, climate, energy supply etc. – present basic information specific for the country and reflect the common score of the Austrian energy supply. After having explored the exhibition, visitors can individually decide upon the destiny of their balloon, whether it shall be left behind at a point of interest and serve as a marker for following visitors or whether it shall leave the pavilion and present an apparent advertising media for the Austrian contribution to the Expo.
The showcase represents the third part of the exhibition and makes it possible to comprehend best practice examples and innovations in the field of decentralized energy production. This exhibition space presents separate key topics that can be changed in cycles. Through a temporary scaffolding construction, the mezzanine brings a change of perspective – allowing a view into the layer of clouds. The catering area (VIP area), situated on a bridge between the info gate and the data landscape, offers yet another experience which includes local Austrian culinary treats. The speakers’ corner serves as an isle for events. It is located above the show case and makes it possible to give presentations, lectures and talks.
People are the power . The objective is to present Austria with its rich, natural and technical energy potentials. Due to these potentials, it is possible to transfer and export the added value chain to the hosting country that has landscapes similarly rich to those in Austria.
In addition to this, visitors can directly experience that their own interests and behaviors directly effect energy resources, eventually landscapes and also the environment. During an interactive installation, guests learn that by acting together and in a cloud, they can influence or change substantial factors of our environment. The potential of a new energy awareness that visitors have acquired actively in the Kazakh capital and far away from Austria is documented and constantly evaluated. Balloons that do not remain in the landscape but leave the exhibitions space together with their owners broadcast the idea of energetic networking throughout the exhibition area and out into the city.
