Plug-in-Play

Client
Zero1

Location
San Jose City Hall
San Jose, California

Sector
Public Space

Size
10,000 sqft

Awards
Core77 Professional Notable
IxDA Connecting Category Winner
IxDA Expressing Category Shortlist

For the Zero1 San Jose Biennial, we built an interactive urban-scale projection environment outside San Jose City Hall. Inspired by the exchange between the digital and physical world, Plug-in-Play created a new art form, transforming unused public space into a city wide celebration.

Inspired by the theme “Build Your Own World,” the installation invited visitors to interact physically and virtually with the city. It celebrated the interconnectedness of people and things through play, social media, and human interaction. Visitors collaborated to paint the town yellow, blue, green and purple. All of the activity and interactions in and around the area were filtered and translated into an abstracted version of a skyline or cityscape projected onto the façade of the building.

Plug-in-Play created a spectacle environment that let humans interact with their world and vice versa, promoting interconnectedness and play between both worlds. It used data to visualize the activity of the community and bring public space to life.