Interview

  Can you tell me about the site you’ve chosen?

Benji Wiedemann: We went for the Place Georges Pompidou and the one thing that struck us is, obviously, the building – the Centre Pompidou. It’s such a significant piece of architecture and represents also a change in architecture.

The building was purposefully off-set on its site, in order to create a space for people to meet, a public plaza – that’s a really conscious decision. Our project, Equilibrium, shares the same dynamism and principles of the building itself – in the building, the dynamism comes in the visible movement of people through it, and it is the same principle for the square. So, it was important for us to extend the conceptual narrative from the building into the square.

Equilibrium is not about instruction, it’s about information.

For another client, we’ve been developing this idea of what we call a ‘mindful museum’ – which is really about creating awareness… awareness for each other, respect for each other.  And, in this case, mindfulness around where we are standing.

This is the biggest shift: it’s not about social distancing, it’s about a collective redistribution. What are we newly aware of in public space? If you think about the Gaia theory – that the world itself is a self-regulated organism – now, this can only happen if we’re connected to each other, though that doesn’t necessarily mean physically connected, but aware.

We don’t want to make it about social distancing, or about COVID, but awareness about each other, our surroundings – locally and globally, as well as politically or environmentally.  

    So how does it manifest in your project?

We created an installation around that – four-sided pillars, covered with flip dots that monitor the number of people in each quadrant of the plaza, which is already divided into a grid. As people walk in, the dots turn right, raising the bar… once it’s filled, people are encouraged to move along, to work together to redistribute and create a greater balance.

It’s about fluidity, change and movement, again like the building.

The pillars are battery and solar-powered, there’s a 360 camera on top that tracks movement and determines the level of the white dots.

    And, what were some key considerations about how they functioned?

Alex Lampe: We talked about the idea of a colour shift or something like that – but we thought this was powerful enough as it is to encourage that movement. This is not about saying ‘do not do this,’ it’s responsive nudges.

BW: Yes, we tried gradients, where the top level was red – but we kept stripping it back. And we went through a few iterations before we came to the idea it should be flip dots because we needed a mechanism that matched those of the building.

AL: We also like that they’ll emit a sound, that there’s a sound texture to them as they flip around you, and help to create a three-dimensional sense of space and capacity. And, it’s quite analogue as well, and we like that quality to it.

    Why do you think it was so important, originally, to put a public square next to the museum?

BW: The building is such a piece of art – so you need a certain distance to it. A building’s success is also a lot about whether people choose to spend time there, so I think it’s also a responsibility to build spaces for people that help build a relationship to architecture itself.

    Is this exclusively site-specific?

BW: If you remove the building, it wouldn’t suddenly not make sense, but I think the relationship with the building gives it more reason to be the way it is.

AL: Yes, there’s a neutrality to the forms and the mechanism. They are these atomic units that can be redistributed.

BW: It just had to be discreet, so as not to fight with the building. But standing on its own, it could have more impact.

    And how does this connect to Wiedemann Lampe’s other work?

AL: We design a lot of experiences, and there’s something around flow – we work a lot around people’s attention span, and dwell time on a certain piece of content. But this isn’t around content, it is nudges around behaviour – and conditioning you before you enter a space.

Equilibrium is an installation located in the Centre Pompidou square. It shares the same dynamism and principles of the building itself: the fluid movement of people.

Equilibrium is not about instruction, it’s about information. It’s not about social distancing, it’s about collective redistribution. Redistribution to restore and sustain balance, with one another and our surroundings, locally and globally as well as socially, politically and environmentally.

Consisting of 4-sided pillars covered with flip dots, Equilibrium monitors the number of people in each quadrant of the plaza. As people walk in, the dots turn white, raising the bar. Once the space is overfilled, people are encouraged to move along, working together to create awareness to redistribute for greater balance and the greater good.

Interview

  Can you tell me about the site you’ve chosen?

Benji Wiedemann: We went for the Place Georges Pompidou and the one thing that struck us is, obviously, the building – the Centre Pompidou. It’s such a significant piece of architecture and represents also a change in architecture.

The building was purposefully off-set on its site, in order to create a space for people to meet, a public plaza – that’s a really conscious decision. Our project, Equilibrium, shares the same dynamism and principles of the building itself – in the building, the dynamism comes in the visible movement of people through it, and it is the same principle for the square. So, it was important for us to extend the conceptual narrative from the building into the square.

Equilibrium is not about instruction, it’s about information.

For another client, we’ve been developing this idea of what we call a ‘mindful museum’ – which is really about creating awareness… awareness for each other, respect for each other.  And, in this case, mindfulness around where we are standing.

This is the biggest shift: it’s not about social distancing, it’s about a collective redistribution. What are we newly aware of in public space? If you think about the Gaia theory – that the world itself is a self-regulated organism – now, this can only happen if we’re connected to each other, though that doesn’t necessarily mean physically connected, but aware.

We don’t want to make it about social distancing, or about COVID, but awareness about each other, our surroundings – locally and globally, as well as politically or environmentally.  

    So how does it manifest in your project?

We created an installation around that – four-sided pillars, covered with flip dots that monitor the number of people in each quadrant of the plaza, which is already divided into a grid. As people walk in, the dots turn right, raising the bar… once it’s filled, people are encouraged to move along, to work together to redistribute and create a greater balance.

It’s about fluidity, change and movement, again like the building.

The pillars are battery and solar-powered, there’s a 360 camera on top that tracks movement and determines the level of the white dots.

    And, what were some key considerations about how they functioned?

Alex Lampe: We talked about the idea of a colour shift or something like that – but we thought this was powerful enough as it is to encourage that movement. This is not about saying ‘do not do this,’ it’s responsive nudges.

BW: Yes, we tried gradients, where the top level was red – but we kept stripping it back. And we went through a few iterations before we came to the idea it should be flip dots because we needed a mechanism that matched those of the building.

AL: We also like that they’ll emit a sound, that there’s a sound texture to them as they flip around you, and help to create a three-dimensional sense of space and capacity. And, it’s quite analogue as well, and we like that quality to it.

    Why do you think it was so important, originally, to put a public square next to the museum?

BW: The building is such a piece of art – so you need a certain distance to it. A building’s success is also a lot about whether people choose to spend time there, so I think it’s also a responsibility to build spaces for people that help build a relationship to architecture itself.

    Is this exclusively site-specific?

BW: If you remove the building, it wouldn’t suddenly not make sense, but I think the relationship with the building gives it more reason to be the way it is.

AL: Yes, there’s a neutrality to the forms and the mechanism. They are these atomic units that can be redistributed.

BW: It just had to be discreet, so as not to fight with the building. But standing on its own, it could have more impact.

    And how does this connect to Wiedemann Lampe’s other work?

AL: We design a lot of experiences, and there’s something around flow – we work a lot around people’s attention span, and dwell time on a certain piece of content. But this isn’t around content, it is nudges around behaviour – and conditioning you before you enter a space.