PIXEL CLOUD Turns Ordinary Scaffolding Into A Fully Immersive Experience

Icelandic based architect Marcos Zotes and his studio UNSTABLE is fond of colonizing urban environments and challenging the conventions of public space. By staging inner-city interventions, Zotes likes to explore the social and political features of architecture in relation to the urban context.

Growing up as a young skateboarder and graffiti artist in the early 90s, Zotes witnessed what it felt like to be excluded from public space. The urban experiences that he encountered from an early age have transcended into his work as an architect, with which he reclaims his right to use the city.

He’s projected a giant eyeball on the bottom of an abandoned Brooklyn water tower, illuminated a spotlight on people as they walk past CCTV surveillance, and displayed anonymous text messages onto the façade of a Detroit building.

For his latest architectural installation PIXEL CLOUD, Zotes took over an ordinary scaffold in the heart of Reykjavik’s Austuvöllur Square in Iceland and transformed it into a fully immersive environment. "The scaffold, once liberated from its functions as an element in the construction industry, is treated as an object of art in itself," the artist notes. PIXEL CLOUD takes advantage of the obsolete scaffolding structures that help construct a city's permanent landscape, which have now become urban scars left behind from the current financial situation.

Photo by Marcos Zotes

A series of live, generative visuals were mapped to match the spatial details of the multi-layered structure. Assembled in a way that conceptually resembles a pixelated cloud (hence the name), the exterior of the scaffold was covered entirely by a porous membrane of white fabric. The membrane served as a net for capturing light and letting it pass through one layer to the next, reaching the bodies of visitors who ventured into the environment.

Structure drawing

Photo by Marcos Zotes

Photo by Ingunn Mjöll

Like his previous interventions, the event acted as a catalyst for social interaction and served as an arena for debate, attracting thousands of visitors on opening night. In a gathering that was regarded by many as the largest since the protests that took place on the very same grounds a few short years ago, this space was temporarily transformed into a site of reconciliation. During the daytime, the structure remained as an elevated public platform that allowed residents to enjoy their everyday surrounding in a new light.

Photo by Eric Wolf

Photo by Eric Wolf

PIXEL CLOUD was performed in conjunction with series of live performances from Icelandic musician Eðvarð Egilsson and his project Cosmos during the four nights of the Reykjavik Winter Lights Festival.

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