Giving the keynote address at the National Building Museum's annual gala tomorrow is David Rockwell, founder of the innovative design firm the Rockwell Group. Known for everything from architecture to set design, Rockwell also does interactive public-space technology like the Imagination Playground in New York, and has recently developed an iPad app for crowdsourced art installations, Curbed DC reports.
Called Build Up!, the app allows guests at an event to interact with projected video art such as the city skyline installation in the photo above. By selecting an image on their tablet device, the crowd can change the height and location of a building in the skyline. And as more guests participate, "the buildings change color and pattern based on how many appear in the skyline".
"Something that is very much on my mind these days is using technology in public ways to connect people, versus technology that separates people," Rockwell told Curbed. "I see design through the lens of play...I want to re-introduce the notion of play and the importance of it," he said.
Tickets to the National Building Museum gala are still available but they'll cost you a pretty penny-- seats start at $500. If that price is as shocking to you as it is us, you can see some of Rockwell's work at local restaurants that his firm designed such as Adour Alain Ducasse and Bourbon Steak. Also check out the Rockwell Group's Interaction Lab site, for lots more cool interactive design.
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