The “Future Materiality” installation is developed by Citymakers and designed by “Pravda” architectural
bureau. Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of Moscow is the curator for this
project. Project team’s goal was to describe the city of the future avoiding literal quotes. The installation
contemplates the changes happening in Moscow. The city here is associated with a river –
permanent in place but constantly changing. “Future Materiality” is trying to extrapolate the spatial
experience letting the spectator develop their own perception of the project. That is to say,
the changes in the city are not just new buildings, roads, or parks, but the experience of sunlight
reflection, street noise, sunset shadow or smell of linden blossom. City experience modifies simultaneously
with its development. “Future materiality” creates a statement for the significant future
city changes that is to protect citizens from unpleasant experiences, to preserve essential, and to
add new unexplored and unusual ones.
T- and C-shaped spatial components are composed into a reflecting labyrinth creating each visitor’s
multiple copies. That’s how the spectator becomes a part of the installation. Acrylic panels are
covered with a multicolored dichroic film that transforms from transparent to reflective depending
on a visual angle.
Inside of the labyrinth, an audio fantasy sounds. It has elements of electronics, city noises, music
from classic Soviet movies as well as Shostakovich’s operetta. At the very center of “Future materiality”,
the visitor is able to transform the audio environment by interacting with Moscow’s three
symbolic materials, i.e. glass, granite, and steel.