"VOICES" at forum 2004

DIRECTor of content and media

LOCATION: Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona Convention Center designed by Josep Lluis Mateo

DURATION: Temporary. May- September 2004.

VISITORS: 1,500,000 in 5 months.

ROLE: I worked closely with the curator and scientific team to craft the exhibition content, its narrative and scripts, and developed with the designers the experience and audiovisual components. I was the Director of Content and Media and Project Manager for Ralph Appelbaum Associates.

The Universal Forum of Cultures was an international event that aimed to have the same impact as the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. The event was the engine of the urban regeneration and re-development of the northern part of the city, which included new buildings and facilities..

Voices was dedicated to diversity, one of the core themes of the Forum 2004. Its architectural form, audiovisual experience, and participatory strategies explored four themes — language, dialogue, communication and diversity — using innovative exhibition treatments and technology.

A central iconic element housed an immersive hemispheric theater formed by seemingly floating tectonic-like plates and 22 synchronized projectors. The plates served as projection surfaces that surrounded the viewer in a multimedia environment. Images of dramatic scale revealed —through gestures, expressions, sounds, and words— the richness of human communication, the diversity of languages in the world, and the possible extinction of certain languages.

A peripheral wall utilizing 24 synchronized projectors presented a catalogue sample of the world’s languages, their locations and number of speakers. Twenty graphic and interactive tables explored the main concepts of communication and mass media in a global context. Two projections linked by LED text messages addressed the importance of dialogue. All four exhibition elements were at times synchronized to have the same images and therefore have a strong content statement about the danger of losing languages and our voice.

Large-scale 360* media environment was placed at the center of the space, while interactive tables were randomly placed outside the central element.

Central experience and view of wall of languages behind.

Central experience composed of 22 synchronized projections.

A wall of projections was at the perimeter of the space wrapping the entire experience.

At times, the audiovisual created projected 24 different images; at other times, a single panoramic image was composed by the 24 projectors.

The audiovisual presents the richness of human communication and the importance of language in shaping identity.

The film was projected onto honeycomb double curved plexiglass panels held together by a metallic circular structure.

A wall composed of 24 synchronized projections showed a catalogue of existing languages from around the world.

Each screen featured videos of people speaking the language, information about each language and the place in the world where it is spoken.

Interactive and graphic tables were placed outside and around the central element.

Each table was 4-meter long.

Detail of table with images showing how different face adornments express different things around the world.

Each table had a unique treatment: graphic, media, interactive or sound treatments.

Table shows different meanings of emoticons and acronyms used in cellphone conversations.

Table broadcasts different radio stations from around the word in different languages.

Table features different religious songs and music to show the diversity of spirituality in the world.

Table contrasted the multiple names of salmon in countries that have abundance of that fish with those that don't have any and only have one word.

Table show how group congregations and formation communicate different things in different parts of the world.

Table explored the meaning of colors in different languages.