madrid's 'game on' exhibition celebrates the history of video games with vibrant graphics

in madrid, smartandgreendesign presents ‘game on,’ a vibrant exhibition — to be both seen and played — that celebrates the history of the video game. touring internationally, ‘game on’ is the first major exhibition of its kind to explore the history and culture of video games. first shown in london in 2002, the expo has since traveled to over thirty countries worldwide. it arrives now in spain, coordinated by fundación canal, with a new exhibition design by smartandgreendesign. the show is located within a massive subterranean water deposit in madrid’s city center, with an impressive, ancient architectural language.

images by javier de paz garcia | @javierdepazgarcia

in the development of its luminous ‘game on,’ exhibition, design studio smartandgreendesign curates a conceptual connection with the eighties, which the team views as the golden age of video game design. the first experiments in design with vector graphics were done by that time, while three dimensional environments were created despite the technical limitations of the era. this vector aesthetic is a key point of reference on the video game scene, and is the starting point for the spatial conception of the project. a series of colored LED line-work pulses in sync with rhythms and geometries to establish the identity of each area of the exhibition. 

‘game on’ celebrates moments as far reaching as history’s first video game of 1962, ‘spacewar!’ from mario to lara croft, from pong to street fighter, the design team at smartandgreendesign invites visitors to explore the history of gaming culture through an immersive, otherworldly montage. with the latest virtual and augmented reality technologies, the most famous arcade and consoles, the expo celebrates six decades of creation and innovation.

project info:

project title: game on expo

interior design: smart & green design | @smartandgreendesign

location: fundación canal, madrid, spain

photography: javier de paz garcia | @javierdepazgarcia