The image as matter and material. Advanced architectures and audiovisual experimentation from the inclusive view of Herbert Bayer.

Abstract

Since the mid-20th century, there has been a growth in unique architectural practices based on the use of media information systems as a key component. In this context, the research attempts to reveal the sequence of ideas that leads us from the figure of Herbert Bayer and his highly influential graphic scheme in Fundamentals of Exhibition Design (1939), to the presence of the image in motion in the most contemporary architectural design. This type of image can be understood as a conceptual material of architecture. Specifically, three main lines are analysed: on the one hand, the contributions of Herbert Bayer in the field of visual and exhibition design; on the other, the pioneering experiences of hybridity between architecture, theatre and video projections in the 1950s; and finally, the study of end-of-century designs in which the audiovisual constitutes a crucial support in architectural definition. By means of a literature review as a working method, supported by a purposive analysis of examples, we try to justify the link between the above approaches. The conclusions point to the lineage of the fusion of the physical and virtual worlds in architecture, through the image in motion inserted in its design.