Brillen en la Foscor is an interactive installation built by IAAC – Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in the occasion of the LLUM BCN Festival in Barcelona, Spain, in February 2017.

Located in an enclosed patio in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, the installation, an interactive audiovisual instrument, transforms the space through a musical performance based on citizen participation. From the narrow winding streets of the neighborhood, the visitor enters the patio space and is invited to play with the strings of light, composing musical melodies based on the citizens’ real time interaction.

By pulling the interactive strings of light distributed around the patio, the user activates the different chords, which interplay to the melodic background sound. Piezoelectric sensors, located on the base of each string, capture the vibration from the visitor’s’ interaction, sending this information to the raspberry pi, then activating the speakers embedded into the digitally fabricated wooden islands, located at the base of the strings of light.

This mechanism creates a direct sound response to the user action. The strings of light are illuminated thanks to black lights located throughout the patio, making them inherently attractive to the curious visitor, who is invited to pass through the installation thanks to distribution and form of the digitally fabricated wooden structures – island – that enclose all the technological elements of the installation.

The experience is amplified according to the number of actors within the space also allowing the users to interact not only with the installation but among themselves, through the common construction of an intense audio composition. The collective behaviour and rhythm at which each participant plays the strings, activating their surrounding space, allows generating an immersive audio-spatial experience through a common interactive game.

In this way, Brillen en la Foscor establishes a dialogue between the visitor and the public space, as well as between different visitors, allowing the space to become responsive and interactive through sound.

The installation seeks to engage the visitors of all ages through playful discovery, using this engagement to connect people through their senses, rather than through an explicit narrative, to the story of Santa Eulalia. Moreover, thanks to the integration of latest technology within the traditional urban fabric the installation allows moving from the static concept of public space to a more dynamic and responsive model of active public space.

Brillen en la Foscor is an immersive and interactive musical experience, transforming space through visitor interaction and sound, engaging community, implementing advanced technology and enriching social activity in the area.