Watch on Vimeo

Resuscitate
Interactive installation created by Dimana Sofianska, Dolce Villegas, and Tara Salibi.

Resuscitate: revive (someone) from unconsciousness or apparent death, make (something) active or vigorous again.

The theme of this installation is to show the potential of abandoned spaces using a fusion between architecture and media. Our initial perception of abandoned space was that they were negative, dangerous, scary, and avoidable. But as we went through the journey of physically exploring one of them, we gradually grew more comfortable with the space and towards the end we understood how those places may be considered as exciting and appealing adventures. But unfortunately as you take a step back from the hype, these spaces are in reality a waste of opportunity.

The installation not only metaphorically trans¬lates the experience of being in an abandoned space, but also shows the potential of those places with infinite possibilities when they are properly maintained. We made use of different elements such as light, shadow, transparent and translucent materials to portray the abstraction of an abandoned space which was the main inspiration of the forms used in our model and video. The video tells the story of creating a vibrant city out of the shattered structure. Once the city is alive, it deconstructs again to reinforce the idea that it could be something beautiful but the reality is that it is just an abandoned place. As the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava said: “You see the first goal in this space was to deliver something beautiful where such an ugliness was there before, to deliver something optimistic looking to the future where so much sadness and depression was there.”

The installation works by pointing a flashlight on the physical model of the abstracted structure to create a shadow on the wall; then a light sensor picks up the light to trigger (using VVVV) the video projected on the wall. The model is set in a box to recre¬ate the experience of the unknown and to encourage the desire to discover. To further immerse the user in the audio visual installation, the sound that includes recorded samples from an abandoned space, is played through headphones that the user wears throughout the experience.

This installation aims at bringing consciousness to people about abandoned spaces and the potential that they can have in the future only if they are taken care of.