Theatrical Performance as Experimental Architecture

Abstract

This paper discusses by way of the authors' recent projects how improvised live
dance performance, architectonic composition, and sensing technology converge and inform new opportunities in architectural experimentation. We first lay out the theoretical basis of technology in architectural experimentation in "new rationalities" of technologically augmented aesthetic work. We then briefly describe two projects, X-Change Room and RaumSubsTANZ and the motives behind them. X-Change Room deals with /non-verbal/ ambient display of information and interaction through envelope threshold. RaumSubsTANZ, a short interactive dance composition that highlights the ephemerality of architectural composition augmented by interaction devices. Through the two small projects we attempt to explore a specific technological milieu and reflect on the potentials and challenges of experimentation in architectural composition. The paper presents design methods and techniques that incorporate theories of perception and semiotics by way of an umbrella concept, "ambient displays" and interactive composition. Ultimately, we explore non-verbal communication and theatrical performance as architectural informant that augments semiosis and cognition that pertains to the role of technology at the intersection of primordial senses, cerebral technology, and place-making.