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Entwurf • Design Smart and Green Design, ES-Madrid
Arcade-Games • Arcade games
Top Ten Spielekonsolen • Top ten games consoles
Spiele-Genres • Game genres
Bauherr • Client Sala de Arte Fundación, ES-Madrid
Standort • Location Paseo de la Castellana, ES-Madrid
Nutzfläche • Floor space 2.500 m 2
Fotos • Photos Javier de Paz García, ES-Madrid
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 110
EXHIBITION GAME ON
IN MADRID
Immerse yourself in immersive atmospheres: The Game
On exhibition in Madrid celebrates the history of gaming
with the pixelated, colourful aesthetics of video games.
The re-design of the touring exhibition of the Barbican
Centre in London was entrusted to Smart & Green Design.
They transformed an underground cistern in the centre of
Madrid into an experience of rhythmically flowing lights.
V ideo games are booming! The gaming scene has enjoyed great po-
pularity for quite some time now — with technology, graphics and
gameplay becoming more and more complex and increasingly drawing
the gamers into a virtual reality. From the confines of nerdy teenagers’
rooms, consoles have made it into the home entertainment systems of
the general public. The immersive gaming scenes of home consoles have
their roots in the colourful, pixelated arcade cabinets, also known as a
coin-op machines, of the 1980s — this decade was the golden era of video
games. The creative team of Smart & Green Design used this aesthetic
for the re-staging of the travelling exhibition Game On in Madrid. The ex-
hibition was initiated in 2002 by the Barbican Centre in London. One of
the greatest challenges for the interior designers was to come up with a
space-creating concept that is universally usable and hence allows re-
peated use over the long term, yet still emphasises the peculiarities of
the various exhibition venues. At Fundacíon Canal in the centre of Ma-
drid, the re-design of Game On 2020 celebrated its debut in a former ci-
stern with a floor area of 2,500 square metres. With neon-coloured LED
lights, a uniform design vocabulary was found for the multifaceted dis-
play areas. They are a tribute to the artwork of Dan Flavin, the inspira-
tion behind the exhibition design. The minimalist artist designed instal-
lations made of neon tubes that involved the viewers and let them be-
come an artistic object themselves in their interaction. In the Game On
exhibition, too, the visitors' interaction with the exhibits plays a primary
role. In the dynamic Games Room, visitors can game at around 150 vin-
tage gaming machines, and in the contrasting area, they can immerse
themselves in the history of video gaming thanks to atmospheric per-
spectives created by light. For the video games that are no longer in their
original condition, Smart & Green Design designed a light, neutral dis-
play that emphasises the style of the arcade games. The exhibition sy-
stem is based on wooden frames on which exhibits, graphic panels and
lighting are mounted. The designers also provided a guide for setting up
the presentation areas — so let the gaming begin!
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