The presence of all kinds of electronic displays is an essential part of contemporary architecture. This new “screen architecture” already has its classics (for instance, Prada store in NYC by OMA/ Kram, or Facsimile project by Diller + Scofilio) but since in the near future every surface may become an electronic screen and/or a working computer, we are just at the very beginnings of what promises to become a whole new field. Working on a smaller scale of a media installation, many artists (Gary Hill, Doug Aitken, etc.) explore the similar issues of space/screen. The difference between two practices lies in the emphasis between the two elements: architecture and display. Architects’ first priority is to cover up and organize physical space; displays are typically treated as additions to this space. Media installation artists usually proceed in the opposite direction: they start with images in space and then they construct some structure to organize viewer’s interaction with these images.

Soft Cinema installation is a small experiment pointing towards the possible future when the merger between architecture and media would require us to have coherent strategies to deal with the new surface/screen. The following pages present designs of a number of people who participated in this experiment. I initially proposed a concept that separated installation space into different areas (3 boxes + a lounge area) each characterized by a different viewing regime. Gradually, what was at first basic boxes became the focus of the design. Andreas Kratky suggested that boxes should contain both solid and transparent areas and that the later should wrap around the edges to create more interesting interplay between the outside and inside space. Jason Danziger further elaborated this idea by introducing a system of proportions based on the same algorithm used in screen design of Soft Cinema; he also made a link between different types of images used in Soft Cinema movies and different materials to be used for the boxes construction. Ruth Lorenz then performed a difficult job of simplifying the design to make it work within the constraints of space and budget – in the process further refining the identity and the character of the boxes. Finally, we present three alternative designs by Andreas Angelidakis: first two are his interpretations of the “Future Cinema” theme while the third is a reaction to my description of Soft Cinema installation as “suprematism for the lounge generation.”