Decaying Software

The project explores the idea of a changing environment by two different dimensions. First, the phylogenical dimension, it takes into consideration the process in which a building perishes and disappears through time. Second, the ontogenical dimension, it examines the physical process that occurs in the site during demolition.

The concept was to create an application that encompasses the physical process of deconstruction and annihilation, represented through the metaphor of decaying software.

The project incorporates a wireless network that surrounds the area. Each user can connect to the system using their personal mobile phone (equipped with Bluetooth technology) and by logging into the network they can interact with the piece. The generated software is projected into the air above the building site. The dust surrounding the site during demolition provides the reflection necessary to display the visuals (as an alternative, the visuals are projected into the building façade).

The software produces groups of elements, resembling microscopic particles displaying properties of emergent self-organisation. By using their mobile interface, users can start by adding a seed (element) or number of seeds to the existing population, they can also affect different parameters of the visual configuration, like growth and decline, or colour and position. This population is in constant change and it is performing actions based on the cell's surroundings. The model gradually reorganises itself in patterns that resembles biological systems of life. Through time, the population is slowly decaying and dying.