GEEK PAVILIONS

Location: online
Programmatic: virtual pavilion
Architects: SA lab
Client: GEEK PICNIC
Curator: Khristina Ots
Text author: Anastasia Shatalova
Status: built
Year: 2020

Everyone had to move from offline to online due to the global COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. Many events were postponed or cancelled, but there were those who saw the crisis as an opportunity. GEEK PICNIC, a science and technology festival, was held online for the first time.

SA lab has designed physical public spaces and a scene for speakers and visitors and then transformed the concept keeping in mind the online format. GEEK pavilions became virtual spaces for communication.

The topic of the festival "Multiverse" and digital format gave a different view on architecture. Being constrained in the physical world by materials, construction technologies and budgets, in virtual space, it could be anything. It could levitate, dynamically change and have no windows or doors.

GEEK pavilions are videogames, where you can create routes and explore architecture from home. The starting point of the pavilion was the popular video game of 1970, Conway’s Game of Life, where the scene is the universe, and the idea of the game is to observe the life of the cells. Their behavior is based on the principle of cellular automata and is translated into the plane.

Cellular automata is a discrete mathematical model used in physics, biology, cryptography and other sciences. In particular, cellular automata can describe the behavior of certain gases, spreading plants or forming a pattern on shells. SA lab has been researching cellular automata for several years. The results of the research helped with the projects of the design of a city block, the renovation of the Russian pavilion in Venice and the creation of a wooden summer pavilion.

Pink GEEK pavilion consists of cells, which develop vertical structure, like a skyscraper. Each cell location depends on its neighbors. Using a keyboard and a mouse, you can move around the entire perimeter of the pavilion in search of prizes or just walking. The game opens many scenarios of movement.

Blue GEEK pavilion shows another way - from top to bottom. Cells acted with different rules, motion mechanics and architecture design have been modified. Architects added flying elements and staircases, like in Hogwarts, randomly changing direction to make the game more unpredictable. A walking through the twilight pavilion made the game more intriguing.

GEEK pavilions became a remarkable example of an architecture in the digital age. The participant could spontaneously change direction and expand learning experience in a world that denies physical laws. It was a priceless opportunity during the quarantine, which was warmly appreciated by users. Virtual space is not constrained by limits of the physical world. And it opens new possibilities in the middle of the lockdown, first of all for the architects.

Take a virtual walk!

> follow the link from your computer
> turn on the sound to immerse yourself in the atmosphere
> use mouse and keyboard to move
> the most skillful will be able to reach the top