Experience: The Imaginarium (2010)

Two Men. Two Weeks. One Dome.

Our first Imaginarium prototype is an artful recreation of the long-defunct, eponymous emblem of the Stanford Design Program's experimental beginnings in the 1960s. The Imaginarium is an 18' diameter, 5/8 geodesic (3V) dome made of recycled cardboard enclosing a 15-sided, raised wooden platform. It is a multi-media environment designed to encourage creativity, alternative thinking and playful interaction. This project is in collaboration with Gregory Kress, a PhD candidate in the Stanford Center for Design Research.

The Imaginarium was up for one night in the atrium of the d.school on the eve of the Design Program's Personal Statements. We hosted roughly 200 people who waited 30 minutes for a 10-minute show that featured Charles & Ray Eames' Powers of Ten video overdubbed with Johnny Greenwood’s Popcorn Superhet Receiver.

The first Imaginarium prototype is an artful recreation of the original emblem of the Stanford Design Program, dating back to its experimental beginnings in the 1960s. The Imaginarium is an 18' diameter, 5/8 geodesic (3V) dome made of recycled cardboard enclosing a 15-sided, raised wooden platform. It is a multi-media environment designed to encourage creativity, alternative thinking and playful interaction. This project is in collaboration with Gregory Kress, a PhD candidate in the Stanford Center for Design Research. The Imaginarium was up for one night in the atrium of the d.school on the eve of the Design Program's Personal Statements. We hosted roughly 200 people who waited 30 minutes for a 10-minute show projected against the inside of the dome. This video details the experience from outside the Imaginarium. For more information, visit, michaelturri.com/?p=853.

BREAKING NEWS: On the success of this project, Greg and I founded Imaginary Labs, which is currently rebuilding The Imaginarium in the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory on Stanford Campus. Imaginary Labs is primarily engaged in the study of alternative environments and experimental media communications on human creativity.

The following pictures detail the construction of the first prototype, which took place over just two weeks...outside...at night...heated only by a bonfire.