Earlier this week, SPACE10, IKEA’s research and design lab in Copenhagen, launched its new exhibition Kaleidoscopic Home. The exhibition brings the digital platform Everyday Experiments to life for the first time to explore how playful interventions in space can enrich our physical and mental wellbeing. From now until April 2022, visitors of all ages are invited to step into an immersive environment that stimulates the ‘infinite ways of seeing, moving, and being at home.’
Taking centre stage in the exhibition is Australian design duo Tin & Ed, who initially envisioned augmented reality (AR) application that turns your home into a living playground filled with an ever-changing array of sculptural forms. Using emerging technologies like object recognition, generative forms would emerge from the surface of your tables and chairs, floors, walls and ceilings. The application could even use your health data to create personalised arrangements based on your specific health needs.
Play As the purest form of creativity
When SPACE10 asked them to extend their digital experiment into physical space, they jumped at the chance to create an experience of ‘sensorial awakening’. Tin & Ed were intrigued by studies showing that spaces that engage the senses in multiple ways can have positive physical and mental benefits. They also researched artists and architects with different perspectives on how space could be used. Playground designer Isamu Noguchi, for example, believed that sculpted, artistic environments are an important part of everyday life and that children should experience a playground the way humans first experienced Earth: as a spectacular and complex place.
What if we could infuse this sense of wonder into our everyday lives? ‘Play is vital for children’s mental, physical and social development, but we believe it’s just as crucial for people of all ages,’ explains Tin. ‘We know that when adults play, it can relieve stress and increase emotional wellbeing. The aim for this exhibition is to show how an otherwise familiar room can be transformed into something unexpected.’
‘Play is vital for children’s mental, physical and social development, but we believe it’s just as crucial for people of all ages.’
Now open to the public, Kaleidoscopic Home encourages guests to look around, explore, get comfortable, get uncomfortable. Vibrant inflatable sculptures fill the room, bathed in curious lighting designed by collaborators Fady Sadeq and Asif Rahman. Dodging, ducking, touching, cuddling are all highly recommended.
Also showcased in the exhibition is an array of clever ideas and fictional prototypes that further challenge the role of technology in the home. Since its inception in 2020, Everyday Experiments has explored 31 speculative proposals created with 17 studios and independent designers from around the world. All experiments are presented through visual and video storytelling in the exhibition. By sharing the ideas publicly, the aim is to get feedback early and pinpoint immediate attraction to certain scenarios.
Kaleidoscopic Home opens on Tuesday, 16 November 2021 and runs until 30 April 2022. The exhibition is free of cost and open from Tuesday-Friday (and one Saturday a month) at SPACE10 Gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark. More info: www.space10.com
All images courtesy of SPACE10. Photo: Seth Nicolas.