[Por causas ajenas a la organización de Medialab-Prado, este proyecto no se podrá llevar a cabo en el marco del taller. / For reasons beyond the Organization's control this project won't be developed within the workshop.]

When we design spaces we are often faced with flat (digital) tools. These 'pictures behind glass' communicate our designed three-dimensional space virtually, but don't allow shaping objects intuitively in physical space nor offer an experience of what it's like to be there. This project aims to provide a toolkit for designing ephemeral spaces that does both.

First, inspired by theatre design methods, the project explores tangible interfaces by letting us use our hands to shape and move physical scale models to create a miniature of the space we are designing. By making the task of spatial modelling and configuration tangible, it can become an intuitive process that is more like an approachable conversation than the task of a few experts. Building blocks in the design kit may originate from various domains like interior design, theatre, festival architecture or urban planning. Users model a 3D scene by assembling these different components into a meaningful whole.

Second, the toolkit uses digital representations of the designed space to give the designers new perspectives on the imagined environment. For each of the physical objects a 3D model exists digitally and through sensing of the scaled down physical environment a virtual model of the designed space is created. This virtual model can serve multiple purposes in order to facilitate better understanding of the behaviour of the designed space and the environment it sits in. For example to run a weather simulation.

At its core the project has a toolkit consisting of physical objects, opportunities for immediate understanding and creative thinking as well as conversation.