as part of the 2016 oslo architecture triennale, madrid-based studio bolleria industrial has developed and exhibited a puzzling collection of interactive physical devices. the project, entitled ‘managing dissidence’, challenges the current processes of conformity and homogenization experienced by passengers while entering an airport.

 

‘managing dissidence’ interactive prototypes are currently being shown in norway at the national museum and the gardermoen airport, during the oslo architecture triennale 2016: ‘after belonging’.

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
delays and boredom / video booth
all images © eduardo lopez

 

 

bolleria industrial has developed five physical devices to be placed at different points in a passenger’s trajectory at the airport. in other words, the proposal analyzes the different steps or experiences that travelers must go through before take-off which include: oddly familiar, prohibited items, security control failures, delays and boredom, duty-free issues, baggage carousel, warm welcome…or not, and secondary effects. this ‘sequence’ of events departs from real stories in which airport regulations and experiences have been exposed and contested by passengers in general.

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
sharing is caring / mini bar

 

 

by creating boredom, oddly familiar scenarios, and a climate-controlled atmospheres, airport spaces and technologies try to calm passengers’ apprehension in order to ‘camouflage’ the control parameters to which they are submitted. 
in contrast to this ‘individualization’ effect, the temporary interactions among travelers— killing time during delays, sharing inconveniences, being in close proximity— create micro-communitie. these social encounters can develop into indirect, unsophisticated forms of dissidence or ‘soft-activism’.

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
false positive / boudoir

 

 

one of the most crucial concepts explored by bolleria industrial is the standardized procedures of control and security that passengers with different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds are submitted to during their presence in an airport. in other words, the generic and robotic rituals imposed by the system completely wipe out any particularities and individuality — which are comically reflected in the different devices.

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
warm welcome…or not / self-welcoming message machine

 

 

those devices may not improve existing airport facilities but they do provide critical and disruptive mechanisms that ironically illustrate the hopes, fears and delusions centered around transportation hub technologies.

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
detail of the mini bar for recycling liquids

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
detail of the videobooth

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
detail of the karaoke

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
detail of the boudoir

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
detail of the self-welcome machine

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
general view of the intervention devices

bolleria industrial managing dissidence architecture triennale oslo
oslo architecture triennial 2016: ‘after belonging’, at the national museum

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom