The exhibition The Great Imagination. Stories of the Future by Smart and Green Design groups the material around four different spatial experiences. First, at the entrance, reclaimed raised floors and cabinet racks have been used. Then a series of historic bookcases have been created from cable trays. The third area coincides with the telecommunications explosion of the 1950s and a landscape of antennae has been constructed. The last area is dedicated to the world of utopias.
Description of project by Smart and Green Design
The exhibition presents a reflection on the future, understanding how it was conceived in the past and why, as well as what alternative futures we can imagine today to respond to the challenges we face.
The spatial design gives a second life to a series of antennas, rack cabinets, cable trays, or supports located in technology graveyards and disused telecommunications stations.
All these resources have been used to construct the spatial identity of the project given the relevance that telecommunications have had in the process of dissemination and consolidation of the future in our collective imagination, especially since the great technological acceleration that took place in the 1950s.
These infrastructures are responsible for the functioning of our society, and yet they remain "invisible". Bringing them into an exhibition space gives them a new identity and prevents them from becoming waste, one of the key principles of sustainable design.
The recovered material has been grouped formally and functionally around four different spatial experiences, corresponding to the areas of the exhibition.
The visit begins with installations created from reclaimed rack cabinets and raised floor systems, commonly used in data centres.
Next, a series of display cases for historical books have been created from cable trays, in charge of channelling all the data lines that feed these racks. Based on the use of cables and electrical connectors, a three-dimensional infographic has been designed and animated with video mapping.
In the third section of the exhibition, which coincides with the telecommunications explosion of the 1950s, a landscape of antennas has been constructed by assembling different parts or pieces belonging to disused or dismantled installations. These structures become displays of content and audiovisuals and incorporate a graphic language that adapts to the shapes and dimensions of each of the recovered repeaters. An area dedicated to speculations about the future, inspired by space travel, stands out, where satellite dishes from different locations have been grouped together.
The fourth area, dedicated to utopias, has been structured using old cast iron cable racks, no longer in use, from Telefónica's historical heritage warehouses.
