(
Excerpt from : mondo*arc Supplement 1, 11/99, 14ff )
When it comes to large-scale image projection few do it bigger, or better,
than Tuebingen, Germany, based specialists Casa Magica. (...)
Since its augural event in 1990, the annual Stockholm Water Festival has transformed
the center of the Swedish capital into an open air arena for a bustling ten
day program of international music, theatre and events. One of the more visual
aspects of the festival had previously been the firework competition, however,
for the 1999 event, the organizing committee were adamant that they wanted a
fresh approach. Thus Urström, a 3D laser and slide projection show was
commissioned to perform each night.
For the show Casa Magica created twenty four panoramic views exactly
adapted to the proportions of the Royal Castle facade on to which they were
to be projected. The 120m x 30m facade was split into four slide sections that
enabled the use of dissolving projection techniques from the eight Pani BP6
Gold II projectors positioned on two 3m platforms and synchronized with the
shows soundtrack via a Dataton Trax.
Opened on the 11th October 1999, Dresden's House of Books is the largest bookshop
in eastern Germany. To celebrate the opening, Dresden based advertising agency
Collosseum wanted to transform the plate glass facade of the building into a
giant bookshelf. Casa Magica accepted
the challenge (...).
All the glass surfaces were covered from the inside with thick paper (...).
There was also the fact that the building is curved and that people would be
viewing the projection at close range. Furthermore, the ambient light levels
leaking from surrounding areas further compounded the difficulties of the project.
These factors led to the decision to use a number of smaller projectors rather
than one of two larger units and so finally six Pani 2,5 and two Pani ARC II
projectors were used for the eight static scenes (...).
The slides themselves used the slim concrete, stone and steel sections of the
building as the shelving and carefully positioned the books onto the glass panels
(...).
When the cream of the Viennese banking community wanted to welcome their international
guests with a gala dinner in the Ceremonial hall of the Vienna Hofburg, they
turned to Casa magica to create an
impressive decorative display that could change during the evening according
to the courses and the musical program. The team was invited to deploy their
skills in the field of architectural projection which, for several reasons,
proved to be a real challenge. For example there were technical devices in the
hall, which did not fit into the hall's main historic style nor into the subject
"springtime in Vienna", chosen by the client for this event. Thus the projection
had to get around them, to lead the audiences attention to other visual elements.
There was also the question of the huge chandeliers; it was finally decided
to integrate into the projection rather than attempting to bypass such huge
obstacles. By choosing carefully the positions of the projectors they exactly
matched the chandeliers' shadows on the walls, transforming them into fascinating
visual communication between existing architecture and projected formal elements
(...).