The interactive façade game was first launched in 2010, inviting people to participate as designers and play on Linz’s nocturnal skyline. The well-known but somewhat outdated interaction terminal has now been modernized, rethought and brought up to date with the latest technology by the Ars Electronica Futurelab.
Visible from afar, the LED façade of the Ars Electronica Center dominates Linz’s cityscape. But this landmark is far more than just “pretty illuminated” architecture. Consisting of 1,100 backlit elements, the façade is a creative medium that is once again accessible to all citizens of Linz and all visitors to the city.
In the course of the redesign of Play the Façade, the former display in the public space has been moved to the user’s mobile devices. Using your own smartphone, you can connect to the building via WiFi and interactively control around 40,000 LEDs of the Ars Electronica Center on your own smartphone during the opening hours of Play the Façade, thus shaping Linz’s cityscape in an audiovisual way.
Send your sound across the Danube: play your favorite music through the audio system built into the façade and determine how the Ars Electronica Center should light up to it. Browse through the best animations of the last 10 years and let them appear on the 5,100 square meters of the Ars Electronica Center. Decide on the visual impact of the building on Linz’s skyline.
How it works
Your starting point for Playing the Façade is the terminal on the banks of the Danube, below the Ars Electronica Center
To start the web app, first connect to the associated wifi and then open the facade website
Opening Hours
April – October every day 20:00 – 21:00
November – April every day 18:00 – 20:00
Note: This link only works in the immediate vicinity of the Ars Electronica Center. You can control the animations around the Ars Electronica building. If you want to play music, stay at the terminal, because this is the Bluetooth access point. Click on “Music” in the web app, connect your phone to the Bluetooth of the facade and play your favorite music on any player!
Learn more about Play the Façade
Credit: Ars Electronica Futurelab