Perhaps the most popular photo opportunity at VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2020 was the – in the truest sense of the word – breathtaking installation BREATHING SOFTSPACE. This allowed one to immerse oneself, with one’s entire body and all one’s senses, in what to all effects was a breathing space. The three young designers Marie Schumann, Lisa Marleen Mantel, and Matthias Rosenthal jointly created a space that induced all those visiting it to stare in astonishment, calm down, and breathe deeply. At its heart, suspended from the ceiling and floating horizontally against a background of soft sounds, was a square of material consisting of individual purple-pink shimmering threads. As one entered the space, the object reacted to the new presence and moved, tentatively at first, towards the visitor. As the visitor’s movements became calmer, the agential textile object became “more trusting”, accompanied by the atmospheric audio, which also adapted to the situation. A sensor tracked the bodies in the space, engaging with their individual movements. Until one sat or lay calmly on the floor, and the material perhaps even caressed the tip of one’s nose. 

marieschumann.de

lisamarleen.de

matthiasrosenthal.de