Special session organizer: Prof. Giorgos Papakonstantinou, Univ. of Thessaly, Greece

Today we are living in the midst of an emerging new iconographic paradigm, that of the digital image. On one hand all information media and cultural objects can be transferred and encoded in digital form while on the other hand the relation of spectator with the image is no longer that of contemplation but of interactivity and transformation.

These conditions brought into being a new equation between space and image, between image and spectator. In the case of interactive environments and installations a dynamic architectonic space is combined with the kinesis of the viewers’ bodies, with the use of new materials and interfaces and three-dimenional screen structures. Human body, architectural space and image fuse together in the course of interactive multimedia events. They are syncronized in a new way, treated as a dynamic field of variabes.

In many installations a new interactive relation is established between image and viewer where image becomes a component of the architecture and the three-dimensional space. Just as architects have begun to approach new media, a new equation is evolving between visual art and design procedure. Navigation in the digital space has brought up the concept of fluid architecture that is no longer constructed but can be transmitted and shared across remote computer networks.

The Special Session of the conference on Intelligent Environments called “Interactive Installations and the Conception of Space” is looking specifically for contributions that address the above described crucial relations. Case studies can be interactive environments and installations. The focus of the papers should be on: the fusion of visual and physical space, the relation of visual events and virtual space, perceptional procedure and virtualization of image and space, interactivity and architectonic visual space, interfaces and metaphors between subject and environment.
The issue to establish in the paper is how Digital and Information Technologies have contributed in the emergence of new space concepts.

Instructions for manuscripts
Authors are requested to submit a PDF or Word file. A paper should not be more than 10 pages long long and has to follow strictly The Institution of Engineering and Technology's guidelines which are available at: http://www.iee.org/Events/ConfExh/layout.pdf
All papers should be Emailed to the Special Session organizer at the following address: gpapakon@uth.gr. All contributions should be received by the workshop deadline for paper submission which is March 15th 2006.

For more information please contact:
Prof. Giorgos Papakonstantinou – gpapakon@uth.gr – Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece.