Alyssa Kane

Many participating companies in Salone del Mobile will also have street installations throughout Milan to draw interest in their exhibit. Our idea is a large glass cube with a map of the city projected onto the walls. When the user touches a part of the map, a bright blue path will trace out the route from the point being touched on the map to the exhibit. The words "Discover Active" and the dates and times for public viewing will appear at the exhibit's location on the map. No other information about the exhibit will be given.

Many participating companies in Salone del Mobile will also have street installations throughout Milan to draw interest in their exhibit. Our idea is a large glass cube with a map of the city projected onto the walls. When the user touches a part of the map, a bright blue path will trace out the route from the point being touched on the map to the exhibit. The words "Discover Active" and the dates and times for public viewing will appear at the exhibit's location on the map. No other information about the exhibit will be given.

Two robust doormen will guard the entrance of the exhibit to ensure that only elite invitees with a key will be allowed to enter. Silhouetted figures may be seen through the windows, but only those who go inside will be able to discover the allure of IRIS Ceramica and their newest product, ACTIVE.

The largest room, where guests would enter the exhibit, is the "the forest", filled with large ceramic tile panels rise from the ground, hang from the ceiling, and hover mid-air.
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This section shows that there are two more rooms in the exhibit. The space below is a cavernous, dark, "cave" room, and the space above is a well-lit, open, "clearing" room. Separating the forest from the cave and clearing is a wall of flowing water.

The guests engage the space, creating their own weaving path through the forest. As they come to what appears to be a dead-end in the forest of panels, a light push on the ceramic plank constructs a new path.

As they continue they find that many new paths can be made in the forest by re-positioning the revolving panels and sidestepping the fixed ones. As they press their hands against each and every panel they pass, in search of a new path, they notice the unique texture of each panel. Some are smooth and slippery, others course and irregular.

As the guests near the edge of the forest they hear the trickling of water. They break free from the jungle of panels and discover a tile wall plunging through all three stories of the building, water running on it with the serenity of a natural waterfall. There are glasses adjacent to the wall, and guests are encouraged to place a glass under the stream of water for a refreshing drink to experience the purity of IRIS's newest product, a self-cleansing tile.

As the guests near the edge of the forest they hear the trickling of water. They break free from the jungle of panels and discover a tile wall plunging through all three stories of the building, water running on it with the serenity of a natural waterfall. There are glasses adjacent to the wall, and guests are encouraged to place a glass under the stream of water for a refreshing drink to experience the purity of IRIS's newest product, a self-cleansing tile.

There are a stairs leading both down and up. The room above is well lit, and there is an incredible collection of acrylic structures emerging from the ceiling and radiating out to create a reference to beams of light in a clearing.

There are a stairs leading both down and up. Below there is a room filled with darkness. The only source of light is acrylic panes hanging from the ceiling and rising from the floor in clusters, resembling stalagmites and stalactites in a cave.

There are a stairs leading both down and up. Below there is a room filled with darkness. The only source of light is acrylic panes hanging from the ceiling and rising from the floor in clusters, resembling stalagmites and stalactites in a cave.

Near the exit guests can descend a short set of stairs to reach the reflection space. There many people will gather to sit on comfortable furniture and discuss the exhibit. In the center of the gathering space is a pool of water at waist height. Floating on the surface of the pool are trays of Hors d'oeuvres for the guests to enjoy. The guests can now relax, mingle, and speak with a representative from IRIS about how they will be using ceramic tiles in their next project.

A magazine was a part of the required deliverable for the project. We chose black for the background of our pages and used gold and silver throughout to create a sleek, luxurious mood.

The facade of IRIS Ceramica's showroom, the actual space where the exhibit would take place.

The room that would be transformed into the "forest" in the IRIS showroom.