Immersion

Architects Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán won the Festival des Architectures Vives – whose theme was ‘Emotion’ – with an immersive installation filled with red balloons.

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Immersion is an interactive installation designed by Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán that won the Festival des Architectures Vives of Montpellier. This year’s theme was ‘Emotion’ and the architects answered with 500 latex balloons suspended in a special setting.

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Img.1 Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, Festival des Architectures Vives, 2017. Photo Raquel Durán Puente

Img.2 Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, Festival des Architectures Vives, 2017. Photo Paul Kozlowski

Img.3 Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, Festival des Architectures Vives, 2017. Photo Raquel Durán Puente

Img.4 Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, Festival des Architectures Vives, 2017. Photo Raquel Durán Puente

Img.5 Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, Festival des Architectures Vives, 2017. Photo Paul Kozlowski

Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, plan

Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, section

The idea behind the installation was to transform the courtyards into “containers of emotion”. The design team wanted to push this idea to its limits, using balloons. Feeling like a sea of balloons, the installation offered the public an experience of total inclusion. Some found peace feeling isolated, hidden and protected, while others went back to childhood; an annoyed person could simply vent his frustrations and return to serenity all over again. Pleasure, euphoria, well-being, anguish, playfulness, disorientation… whatever the feeling, the architect’s goal was to leave no one indifferent.

Img.6 Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán, Immersion, Festival des Architectures Vives, 2017. Photo Raquel Durán Puente

Immersion, Montpellier, France
Program: outdoor installation
Venue: Festival des Architectures Vives
Architects: Lucía Martínez and Raquel Durán
Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 3 meters
Completion: 2017

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