Dexiatower

From 22nd December 2006 to 15th January 2007 Dexia launched the interactive light game ‘Touch’, developed by LAb[au] (Laboratory for architecture & urbanism).

With a touch screen, it was possible to project geometrical shapes on the walls of the tower.

People were allowed to light the building in a personal way for a few moments and to send a souvenir picture of the light show to their e-mail addresses.

The Touch project brought Dexia Tower international renown. The Tower was featured on hundreds of websites, and several tourist brochures mentioned the tower itself as one of the sights of Brussels not to be missed, alongside the Grand’Place and the Atomium.

Clips

A bit of hi-tech …

The system recognises both static (touch) and dynamic (gesture) input to generate an elementary graphical lexicon of points, lines and surfaces. These are combined with physical behavioural movements (growth, weight…) and use a monochrome colour palette (background) combined with black and white (graphics).

The design of the interactive station is, like the project in general, based on the idea of the folding and unfolding of space. Time and space are combined into a dynamic and sequential concept of interactive lighting.

The station is made up of two parts (folds) and is positioned on the Brussels north-south axis. The first fold allows people to interact using a multi touch screen. The second fold displays the user interaction (finger drawing) on a projection screen. In this way the station not only is linked directly to the illuminated Tower, it also shows passers-by the ongoing process of user interaction.

The interaction is constituted by both static and dynamic input, applying certain parameters such as width (finger, hand, arm..), direction (horizontal, vertical, diagonal), duration (introducing growth), speed (introducing velocity and weight…) to establish a dynamic, abstract play of graphical elements inspired by the Tower.

Each input defines the colour to which the background will change (coordinate to colour map), while the direction of the input (positive or negative) informs the colour (white or black) of the graphic that is evoked.

The touch screen allows different inputs at the same time. People can thus interact with more than one finger and can interact together, thereby turning individual interaction into a collective experience.

This real-time and collective interaction on an urban scale turns the Dexia Tower into a new symbol of Brussels that offers art to the city.

’Touch’ is a project by LAb[au], Laboratory for architecture and urbanism, the Belgian studio for digital design and electronic art.