Climate Changers Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio expect nothing less than to reinvent architecture— and they're doing it with electronic media and mist By Jessica Dheere he expen ners eteting the iste ste car roatng gun dent knw tu bt ter pout ft bon sped Net oy end a pan uae sh mide plat ogsaoueeimieciche cee es fe ot inc Senene wry meal el ey soe te ov alain ao oie teni eres) Re ae ecco es ‘hrs Sat's eg of Pip Jtnons estan te Satan buldg in Nev Yas wih omit of eos ‘cclges al cone ta ns hor ke Sa bs pee wpese of dang pelt how te Em atic cenngly cpr lament aces spac. shown cumple sy Eich ile, of ite cling wah pny of facet modsrsn-—elcg the ieetteeeyanecomy wh te esac cence” The Besse jt te ns ein ul poe For many inc ectecteal wa opsingas yer nae tan ferite Mattar ed sna en, om 8 gy ae eben op sce ears aoe ty imaleensaleue of ees weg pe Bot realsng igh pole penmanet commas In Ap they eaived he fat big nc the now 000 saat boing fr Box’ of Coney A Ans A eet aiaas tnyeceserng titel atid oy Eycran ler eds te digitata pi ceestee The cope le Dies, now 4, vasa sent at Cope Unione Redo Sef lu of 68 wih frying soul pact gi sic 197i aon fesse a Pracsion) Ate dicen hl eS Pai i deekacmaasoctn wer Cee tipi m7, Aiko) aa “peat Tu oun TV an th opr as om sade em erblecon poser be par bps Smal pot nd pected pling th neve ete cas Tos esioniee ised eee een “thence pre ns crit 1 pepe CHE tue fred on te bo an te ply Wa Tk was Soper s toa Veter onmlciy ane oetaba wpa Tor Boos ICA he archets have denied he abr tence iy wet oa rch oy 9 ater a cod egg peri lke ud eng eterno (Se Bom now. They sci of evn "aan ep sitors engaged: a giant glass-enclosed hole, for example, punched through from floor to ceiling in a gallery that cantilevers ‘over the water, opening the sky to the sea below. “Imagine the rain falling through there,” says Diller, clearly pleased with the idea, The two also have a self-imposed im- perative: “to guarantee visitors greedy time with the artworks.” The firm's eagerly awaited Blur Building has also earned Diller + Scofidio wide- spread attention, For the waterfront media pavilion opening next May at Swiss Expo 2002 in Yverdon-les-Bains, the pait chose no less likely a material than mist. “We found ourselves designing, engineering, and writing architectural specifications for fog the ‘way we would for traditional building materials.” says Diller. Filtered water sprayed from 13,000 nozzles, mounted on an a mature anchored to pilings in the mide of Lake Neuchatel, will create a cloud that hovers above the lake's surface, Visitors wear ing “raincoats” —raincoats programmed with information about the wearer's likes and dislikes—will walk up a ramp into the ‘loud and learn of their attraction (or repulsion) to one another as the coats “blush” when they recognize a match. By night, the bil- Jowy fog will function as a dynamic video sereen. In 1999 Diller and Scofidio became the first architects to win a MacArthur Foundation fellowship. The distinction makes them squirm a bit, “We don’t know how to use the unanticipated val dation from our profession,” confesses Diller. “We've always ‘been comfortable as irritants atthe periphery, It's troubling to be invited into the center . Jessica Dheere is managing editor of ARTaews. Visitors to the Blur Bullding will put on special raincoats before venturing into Diller + Scofidio's manufactured cloud. ARTynws/Decewarn 2001 108