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Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation



Architects: SA lab

Client: GEEK festival

Project team: Alina Chereyskaya, Stepan Kukharskiy, Khristina Ots

 Everyone had to move online due to the global COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. GEEK PICNIC, a science and technology festival, was held online for the first time. 

SA lab has designed physical public spaces and a scene for speakers and visitors and then transformed the concept keeping in mind the online format. Two GEEK pavilions became virtual spaces for communication. 

The starting point of the pavilions was the popular 2D video game of 1970, Conway’s Game of Life, based on cellular automata — a discrete mathematical model. 

GEEK pavilions architecture is generated by a cellular automata algorithm but in 3D. The visitors can explore virtual spaces, spontaneously changing direction and expanding the learning experience in a world that denies physical laws. 

It was a priceless opportunity during the quarantine, which was warmly appreciated by users. GEEK pavilions acted as videogames, rethinking architecture in the digital age.