New Media in Architecture: Media Façades

Abstract

A new phenomenon emerged and it is called media architecture. What has started out as a form of advanced advertising on buildings is now changing how buildings are designed and to some extent how they perform in public space; from urban screens to media façades and onward to something quite unique and ever changing. This chapter discusses projects that investigate the relation between architecture, urban space, and media from technical aspects to aesthetic ones in an attempt to define the tools and the language of this new hybrid of media and architecture. Following the emergence of Web 2.0 and social media the buildings are infused with a lot of technology enabling them to shift the control of their behavior to the users thus becoming more adaptable and “social”. A new generation of urban manifestations is beginning to form with experiments that span from entertainment to social awareness. Projects from URBANSCREEN’s 3D projection mapping that are short-lived and nonintrusive to REALITIES:UNITED’s Crystal Mesh or ART + COM and Ateliers Buckner’s refurbishment of the BMW Museum with a permanent media display fused with the building show not only the customized approach specific to the digital culture but also the potential of using new media in the built environment. The language of media architecture is one of variability, mass customization, and complexity, and is in resonance with the current information society. The conclusion of the chapter stresses the need for architects' involvement in media architecture designs from the early stages underlining that media architecture is not just a trend in advertising but has the potential to form new urban spaces and intelligent custom buildings.