Meskawi, Aya;
Ng, Provides;
Soana, Valentina;
(2024)
Performative Architecture as a Theatrical Performer:
A Technological Extension to Dancers’ Movements.
In: Carvalhais, Miguel and Verdicchio, Mario and Ribas, Luísa and Rangel, André, (eds.)
Proceedings of the Twelfth Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X.
(pp. pp. 127-147).
xCoAx 2024
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Abstract
Performance is perceived as a harmonious interplay between the performer and the space. Many elements at work contribute highly to an artistic act. History has witnessed the efforts made to activate the role of performance spaces towards interactivity and adaptivity, including more advanced stage designs that respond to the changing needs of the performer. However, architecture today frequently remains static rather than offering an immersive foreground experience to enhance audience engagement actively. With the advent of soft robotics and its required computation, architecture can input real-time performance data and generate form-changing movements, creating new sensory experiences that inspire and enrich subject-agent feedback. This article explores innovative means to enhance engagement by foregrounding architecture. Through social and design investigations, the study hypothesised the performativity of spaces as a spectrum ranging from immaterial sensory experiences to shape-changing adaptive systems. A case study was developed around two live performances in London, with user surveys focused on impacts, immersivity, and engagement. Principles were then abstracted and applied to propose the design of novel robotic spatial systems, where architecture becomes another layer of skin in an innovative theatrical experience - space, subject, and agent becoming a new trilogy of performative events.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Performative Architecture as a Theatrical Performer: A Technological Extension to Dancers’ Movements |
| Event: | xCoAx 2024: Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X. |
| Location: | Fabrica, Treviso, Italy |
| Dates: | 10 Jul 2024 - 12 Aug 2025 |
| ISBN-13: | 978-989-9049-73-4 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.34626/2024_xcoax_017 |
| Publisher version: | https://2024.xcoax.org/xcoax2024.pdf |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10212847 |
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