1024 architecture

The Creators Project: What project are you guys currently working on?

François Wunschel: Some distortion plug-ins and sound experimentation.

Pier Schneider: Dancing!

Your jobs are so interesting and multi-faceted, but classifying your work as “architecture” seems limiting. Do you have a name for what 1024architecture does?

Pier Scheider: I say I’m a video architect or an urban artist. We use buildings as the framework and architecture as the support.

François Wunschel: I prefer media wrangler. I cook a bit of space, stew some video, add some spice, and serve it fresh with electronic music.

Do you have a specific creative process, or does it differ with each project?

Pier Schneider: It depends on each project. Every situation has its proposition, setup, visual content, program, interaction mode, conception processes, and creation tools. Everything depends on its intervention context.

François Wunschel: All I know is that I spend too much time in front of my computer.

What kind of programs and technology are most important to your work?

François Wunschel: Open-source technology, because it is free to use and there’s always someone to help if you run into trouble.

Pier Schneider: A telephone and an agenda are the best things to stay focused on the reality of the present times.

You are part of a generation that was raised in tandem with the evolution of the personal computer and other consumer electronics. Do you remember tinkering with your first electronic gadgets?

François Wunschel: My first electronic game was called Conte (Fairy-tale). It was totally text-based, and the player could make his or her own fairy-tale book based on a multiple-choice questionnaire. It wasn’t very fancy. I also remember first playing Mario Bros., and I still play it today. Pier Schneider: It was probably the Nintendo Game & Watch two-screen version of Donkey Kong. That was a gift from my godfather for my birthday. I remember that my thumbs were screwed up at the end of the day.

Do you foresee any new technologies being developed in the near future that will revolutionize the way we work?

François Wunschel: Thought recognition software, and a technology like Babel Fish that actually works. Pier Schneider: Teleportation, I hope.

What is the last thing you read or watched or participated in that really inspired you?

François Wunschel: David O’Reilly’s Octocat, which is a mix between a cat and an octopus. You simply cannot describe it with words. It’s mesmerizing and über-contemporary.

Pier Schneider: I guess it’s Pierre Rigal’s Press. He’s a great dancer. The show is about a constant struggle between man, machine, submission, and compression. It’s outstanding!

If you could wish for one invention or innovation that could make your life easier, what would it be?

François Wunschel: I still think that innovation and invention is a bottom-up process. So I hope that some funky young freak in his mum’s garage will, one day, think up the ultimate idea that will make my life easier. I don’t know what that will be, but I’m open to many things.

Pier Schneider: My job is about using and hijacking all kind of tools, technology, or things I can compose with, so I will find new ways to use things other people invent, whatever they may be.

It’s now 2010. Is this what you imagined the future was going to be like when you were 15? What’s missing?

François Wunschel: I truly thought the world would have collapsed, like in Akira. But it has not. Yet.

Pier Schneider: Not at all. I used to imagine that I would be able to move in flying vehicles, park on roofs, and then use the garage as a laboratory. I apologize if this disappoints you, but today I already have everything I need. I prefer hijacking the things here—the materials and the technologies.