Audi City Lab at Corso Venezia 11 offered an original interpretation of the Material Immaterial theme with the program Future Needs Stories: in the spaces of the former Archiepiscopal Seminary, there has been encounters on the theme of the relationship between human beings and artificial intelligences, with the presentation of Sonic Pendulum by Yuri Suzuki.

The evocative lighting by Ingo Maurer at the Baroque entrance led to a series of special events and installations in the 18th-century courtyard.

Photos by Matteo Cirenei and Saverio Lombardi Vallauri.


 

Sonic Pendulum

Sound is my material, which is something immaterial in its own right. In Sonic Pendulum there are independent 30 speakers connected to a pendulum structure. I created a space for relaxation using technology as artificial intelligence. The visitors contribute to create the sound of the work by walking around. Audi is not a company that focuses on mass events with projects of facile impact; the firm seeks experiences of a different kind. It is interested in the theme of sound and its emotional impact on people, a factor that has yet to be fully explored. Designers play an important part, not in terms of decoration but regarding our ways of living.”

Project by Yuri Suzuki with Audi

 


 

The Door to Artificial Intelligence

“Material Immaterial is a courageous synthesis. The two concepts seem like opposites but they actually depend on each other. I like to work at a sort of subconscious level, and the process is guided by emotions and sensations. It must be the same thing for Audi: to listen not only to the indications of the market, but also to the inner impressions of people, shifting the feelings of the time into the products. In design the real challenge is to be real, to convey a message of honesty. For Audi we have created a special entrance: a gate that with a luminous aura over the passage suggests the idea of artificial intelligence.”

Project by Ingo Maurer with Axel Schmid for Audi with  Castagnaravelli