After the mappings by Refik Anadol in 2022 and in 2023, Casa Batlló, committed to bringing Gaudí’s legacy into the future, once again invites a renowned digital artist to project onto its facade, drawing inspiration from the creative universe of the house. The artist chosen for this edition is Sofia Crespo, a pioneer in merging biology and Artificial Intelligence in graphic and audiovisual work.
The Argentine artist presents an exclusive piece for Casa Batlló titled “Structures of Being,” where nature becomes a source of inspiration, just as it was for Gaudí. The music, created by Robert M. Thomas, a renowned generative composer, features local performers such as organist Juan de la Rubia and the string quartet Cosmos Quartet. The mapping will be streamed online the 27 from 20:45.
The mapping is sponsored by the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) fair, inaugurating its fourth edition in Barcelona, and is part of the activities to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Paseo de Gracia and the Festival Llum BCN 2024, and has been made in collaboration with the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.
The world’s finest digital art, every year at Casa Batlló
On January 28th, the facade of Casa Batlló will once again amaze the city of Barcelona through the work of visual artist Sofia Crespo, a pioneer in exploring organic life and its evolution through Artificial Intelligence. The mapping, titled “Structures of Being,” draws inspiration from nature, a fundamental element in Gaudí’s work. The show is a journey through Sofia’s personal microscope, allowing viewers to contemplate the evolution of life by immersing in materials, beings, and natural phenomena present in Casa Batlló.
Sofia Crespo and Robert M. Thomas have closely collaborated to offer a comprehensive work, guiding their creations with their own algorithms, but with a common goal: to connect us with the present through nature. The piece has been performed by organist Juan de la Rubia and the string quartet Cosmos Quartet.
Gary Gautier, General Manager of Casa Batlló: “Casa Batlló has a unique richness per square meter, and its capacity to inspire is endless for any artist, especially the facade, the public part of the House. Sofia’s creative universe is perfect for capturing it because it stems from a deep observation of nature, its essence, structures, and beauty, offering a personal view that combines art and innovation, just like Gaudí did in his time.”
About the exclusive mapping “Structures of Being”
Sofia Crespo creates representations of living beings that never existed. To achieve this, as the artist tells us: “I use artificial neural networks as a tool in the artistic process, algorithms that extract visual patterns from data. Their training and generation process allows me to distill and focus on visual features and shapes in novel ways.” The result is beings that challenge our imagination and seem to come from another planet.
In this case, Sofia has used neural networks (AI) trained to encompass the variety of natural forms that Gaudí included in Casa Batlló and other works, making them interact with 3D scans of the facade. Previously, she conducted a thorough analysis of the different species present in Casa Batlló, from living beings to minerals and shells, classifying them into species, genres, and natural phenomena.
The practice of extracting patterns from the natural world and employing them in novel combinations serves as a common thread in the creative methodologies of Sofia and Gaudí, uniting them through time and technology.
About this project, Sofia adds: “The great challenge has been to convey Gaudí’s inspirations on a facade that has a lot of personality and intricate details. I wanted to capture how he worked and thought, including the materials, symbolism, and his more spiritual dimension. It has been a fascinating project because it combines art and technology, the cultural legacy of Barcelona, and a creator whose work is still alive and constantly reinterpreted by artists.”
The collaboration with Barcelona Supercomputing Center
The Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centrol Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) has participated in the aquatic sequence of the mapping, providing high-resolution ocean circulation models that allow for simulating small-scale whirlpools and play a crucial role in sea temperature. These simulations are part of large European projects, such as DestinE, which advance to create a digital twin of the ocean and Earth, an essential tool to understand and predict Climate Change.
About Sofia Crespo
Sofia Crespo (Argentina, 1991) is a visual artist pioneering in exploring organic life and its evolution through Artificial Intelligence. Her work also explores the potential of AI in artistic practice and its capacity to reshape our conception of creativity, reflecting the dynamic change in the role of artists working with machine learning techniques.
Her work has been exhibited in institutions such as Kunstverein Hannover (Germany) and Fotomuseum Winterthur (Switzerland), and in public spaces like Times Square. Sofia has received multiple awards, such as the Falling Walls – Art & Science (2022), and the AI Newcomer Award, and has given lectures at institutions like MIT and the Oxford Society of Artificial Intelligence. She is currently part of the artistic duo Entangled Others.
About Robert M. Thomas, composer
According to Robert M. Thomas, a renowned composer and performer of generative and adaptive music, which is always changing and created by a system: “Your role as a composer is to define the system or process. I create algorithms to do unusual things. For me, they are like living beings that I encourage to work in a direction, organic technology that has a life of its own, from which a musical piece emerges. For me, this process reminds me of the nature that inspired Gaudí.”
The theme composed for the mapping is inspired by the life and trajectory of Gaudí, especially in the creative journey of an artist who tried to do things differently, seeking his greatest potential as a creator. Robert tells us: “Casa Batlló represents a key moment in Gaudí’s work. A moment of breakthrough, an explosion from which a solid identity emerges.”
About Integrated Systems Europe (ISE)
Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is the world’s largest fair that brings together audiovisual (AV) systems in an exciting and collaborative environment. It is a four-day annual event, organized and led by Integrated Systems Events. Since its inception in 2004, ISE has evolved into a spectacular event that continues to grow each year. In 2024, more than 1,300 exhibitors will showcase countless new products in 8 pavilions at Fira de Barcelona, Gran Via.
Integrated Systems Events is a collaboration between AVIXA and CEDIA, the leading industry associations for the global audiovisual sector.
Mike Blackman, General Manager of ISE: “We are proud to support another mapping installation projected onto the iconic building of Casa Batlló. Sometimes, it can be difficult to visualize and explain to people what the incredible audiovisual technology that visitors experience during our show achieves, but these spectacular digital artworks, and the creativity of artists like Sofia Crespo and Refik Anadol, truly showcase AV technology in all its beauty. It’s impressive, and I’m looking forward to seeing it. We are delighted to collaborate with Sofia and the team at Casa Batlló on this initiative.”
Mapping “Structures of Being”
Artist: Sofia Crespo
Composer: Robert M. Thomas
Performers: Cosmos Quartet and Juan de la Rubia
Direction: Feileacan Kirkbride McCormick / Entangled Others Studio
Producer: Joana Seguro