Media Facades Festival Berlin 2008 – Myths and Potentials of Media Architecture and Urban Screens :: Exhibition: October 16 – December 12, 2008 :: Conference: October 17 – 18, 2008 :: Urban Screenings: October 17 – November 3, 2008.

Media Facades Festival Berlin 2008 is an innovative project, engaging a wide range of stakeholders with distinctive interests in the public space. Through round tables, a workshop, panel sessions, lectures, urban screenings on media facades and an architecture exhibition the event will promote a multi-disciplinary action research approach to technology, architecture and media art in modern cities.

Exhibition: This exhibition will explore the integration of moving images into the building facade as a communicative element, and its effect on Urban Space. A selection of innovative projects that have been realized in various cities will demonstrate possible connections between architecture and screens and highlight different artistic and architectural strategies. Practical technical information will give architects a deeper insight into the challenges and possibilities of utilizing new media in architecture.

Conference: The symposium will foster face-to-face contact and deepen the theoretical background of the issues addressed in the exhibition and workshop. Topics such as the following could be addressed:

– The sustainable integration of digital moving images in the urban architectural landscape
– The changing perception of architecture and public space in the digital age
– Relationships between developments in technology, site specificity and new content
– Interactive design and networking tools for the communication with citizens
– Achieving a balance between commercial, communal and cultural interests
– Urban Screenings on Four Media Facades in Berlin

Media facades are a new kind of exhibition format. Media artists and interaction designer will gain temporary use of four media facades and one interactive city terminal in Berlin and explore their cultural, political and social roles. These screenings serve as a demonstrative test platform for the public. They invite a wider audience to gain hands-on experience in this special connection of content, format, and site-specificity, and to take part in a new interactive infrastructure.

Round Table: Public Round Table meetings of the Urban Screens Network Berlin accompany the festival. This expert-network attempts to develop a sustainable concept for a long-term cultural program on urban screens in Berlin. Discussions will take place during important key events in Berlin such as the des Art Directors Club, the Medienwoche (Mediaweek) and the Art Forum Berlin.