Courtesy of Mediascope ©
Meta-Horizons The Future Now, Exhibition at DDP. PN 3709. 2022
Seoul, South Korea
26th May 2022 - 18th September 2022
Seoul Design Foundation
'Meta-Horizons: The Future Now' at Dongdaemun Design Plaza
Courtesy of Mediascope ©
Players from Back to Front Screen 20 SYNX Interactive Experience, and Screen 21 Workplaces.ai at Meta-Horizons The Future Now, Exhibition at DDP 2022
Courtesy of Mediascope ©
Meta-Horizons The Future Now, Exhibition at DDP. PN 3709. 2022
Courtesy of Mediascope ©
Meta-Horizons The Future Now, Exhibition at DDP. PN 3709. 2022
Courtesy of Mediascope ©
Meta-Horizons The Future Now, Exhibition at DDP. PN 3709. 2022
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ZHA in collaboration with Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul, Korea presents ‘Meta-Horizons: The Future Now’. Designed by ZHA as a catalyst for the instigation and exchange of ideas and for new technologies and media to be explored, DDP opened in 2014 and has become a cultural hub and meeting place at the centre of the Dongdaemun district in Seoul. The inaugural exhibition of DDP’s new Design Museum, ‘Meta-Horizons: The Future Now’ continues DDP’s commitment to showcasing pioneering design, technological innovation and contemporary creativity.
Exploring ZHA’s work across multiple fields, from digital technology to artificial intelligence and virtual reality, the exhibition outlines ZHA’s recent designs, process, and research that incorporates immersive technologies, participatory design and new fabrication techniques. The exhibition details the practice’s collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to developing digital design tools and the opportunities made possible when working simultaneously between virtual and physical environments.
Building a comprehensive understanding of construction materials and methods, logistical strategies and end-user case studies, ZHA develops dynamic models, tools and simulations which allow for an increased complexity and range of inputs to be incorporated into their design solutions. Historical knowledge and precedent are paired with the ability to analyse the present and define the design tools of the future.
Three zones within the exhibition – Innovation, Imagination, Interaction – provide a framework for exploring the work of ZHA’s four research teams: Computation & Design (ZH CODE); Virtual Reality (ZHVR); Analytics & Insights (ZH A+I); and Social Interaction Processes (ZHA Social).
Image © ZHA, Refik Anadol Studio, with OpenAI DALL-E 2
‘Part of the Meta-Horizons: The Future Now’ exhibition, 'Architecting the Metaverse' brings together ZHA with Refik Anadol Studio, the artist behind “Seoul Light: Seoul Haemong” multimedia installation at DDP in 2019.
Innovations in the built environment are driven through ZHA’s process and research harnessing technologies in a more strategic and sustainable way. This introductory section of the exhibition focuses on collaborations across different disciplines which rely on a research-based approach towards the design process and physical prototyping. Presenting projects along three ongoing research strands: Robotic Technologies, Folded Geometries, and Digital Timber construction, ZHA’s expertise of architectural geometry and participatory design enables the practice to deliver resource and energy efficient solutions tailored to individual users.
Featured projects in this zone include the recently completed Striatus, a 3D-printed concrete bridge, and an architectural platform used to create customised modular homes. This platform anticipates the shift towards design for manufacture (DfMA) where individual choice, functional agility and environmental and economic sustainability creates an architecture better-suited to the 21st century: interaction-dense, experience-rich, user-focused and resource-effective.
Research
Led by a culture of research, ZHA is always ahead of the curve because we never stop learning: experimenting, testing, refining, seeking. Anticipating challenges and developing solutions. Envisioning new possibilities, and finding ways to build them.
The enhanced capacity for the imagination and communication of design vision has increased the possibilities of working between the physical and digital realms. The digital realm continues to become more established as an activated destination, with the virtual world drawing participants to connect and exchange in exciting new ways that integrate with the physical world.
Showcased in this zone are ZHA’s recent ventures into designing virtual worlds or the Metaverse such as the cyber urban incubator ‘Liberland’ and ‘NFTism’, a virtual gallery space that explores architecture and social interaction.
Render by Journee
'NFTism' at Art Basel Miami Beach 2-4 December 2021
Virtual Spaces
Our pioneering development of virtual spaces is rapidly expanding the horizons of our practice. From an alternative version of London to a metaverse based architecture exhibition, explore the virtual spaces we are creating.
The ongoing development of technologies across all stages of design through to a physical realisation continues to provide even greater possibilities for interaction and collaboration using a design process that is increasingly more sophisticated and well-informed. These technologies enhance the seamless user experience across the cyber physical, mixed reality, augmented and virtual reality.
The projects presented in this zone explore new possibilities for interaction developed by ZHVR including ‘Project Correl 1.0’, a collaborative experiment in multi-presence virtual reality illustrating the development of complex assemblies inside virtual space, in addition to the ‘LOOP’ mixed-reality experience ‘NEW WORLDS’ which stems from a design simulation created by ZHVR for product testing and design development. Refined for the exhibition by ZHVR in partnership with L-Acoustics Creations, visitors use HTC headsets to experience an immersive soundscape by the artist Halina Rice.
Courtesy of ZHVR Group + Halina Rice
ZHVR LOOP NEW WORLDS
L-Acoustics develops immersive sound technologies for state-of-the-art auditoria and sensory environments. The unrivalled sonic signature and advanced L-ISA Immersive Hyperreal Sound technology deliver ultra-high resolution spatial audio.
Photograph by Virgile Simon Bertrand
Venue
Dongdaemun Design Plaza by ZHA opened in 2014 and has become a cultural hub and meeting place at the centre of the Dongdaemun district in Seoul.
Exhibitions
ZHA’ exhibitions engage us in dialogue with curators, audiences, and other creators, enriching our work and how we communicate it to the world.
Courtesy of MOCAUP
Exhibitions
Presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning (MOCAUP) in Shenzhen until April 10th 2026, the Architecture of Possibility: ZHA exhibition charts the evolution of the studio’s pioneering work over recent decades.
Exhibitions
The first retrospective exhibition of her work in Russia, 'Zaha Hadid' at The State Hermitage Museum provides unprecedented insight into the work of architect Zaha Hadid in a mid-career retrospective highlighting her exploration of the Russian Avant-garde at the beginning of her career, and the continuing influence of its core principles on her work today.
Photograph by David M Heald (c) SRGF New York
Exhibitions
'Zaha Hadid: 30 years of Architecture' has provided an in depth examination of the oeuvre of one of today’s most visionary architects. The first woman to be awarded the distinguished Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004, Hadid is internationally known for both her theoretical and academic work, as well as a portfolio of built projects that have literally “shifted the geometry of buildings.”
Photograph by Virgile Simon Bertrand
Exhibitions
ZHA marks a significant milestone, celebrating their 15-year journey in China with ‘The New World’ exhibition of their work and research at the Guardian Art Centre, Beijing.
Image © ZHA, Refik Anadol Studio, with OpenAI DALL-E 2
Virtual Spaces
Installations + Pavilions
Exhibitions
Architecting the Metaverse’ is an immersive art project at the intersection of architecture, art, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI). It is the result of a 6-month collaboration between Refik Anadol Studio (RAS) and ZHA.
Courtesy of Hong Kong Design Institute - HKDI
Vertical Urbanism Exhibition at Hong Kong Design Institute 15.02-03.04.2022
Exhibitions
Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) and Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) (Lee Wai Lee), together with its affiliated HKDI Gallery present its flagship exhibition of the year 'ZHA: Vertical Urbanism' as part of their ‘Essence of Design’ programme.
Photograph by Xue Liang 薛亮
Exhibitions
The ‘Future Cities’ monographic exhibition examines the innovations shaping 21st century urbanism and traces ZHA’s projects that are redefining urban landscapes around the world.
Courtesy of ZHA
Exhibitions
Defined by a timeline of ZHA's formative works in China, 'ZHA Close Up' at MAM Shanghai in collaboration with ZHD explores the pioneering research and interconnecting relationships that unite our projects around the globe, detailing the technological innovations that are transforming how the studio imagines, designs and constructs built environments.
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