The Casa Batlló’s Gaudí Cube consists of an immersive area of six internal faces of a cube with (10-metres x 9.5-metres x 2.75-metres), lined with Alfalite Modularpix Pro P1 ORIM LED screens, reaching a total area of 243 sq metres in LED panels. The LED displays are controlled by Novastar MCTRL4K control with system redundancy. The LED screen is equipped with an ORIM (Optical Resin Injection Module) that allows greater protection against hits and liquids, as well as a better viewing angle and significant antistatic properties. In addition, mechanised access doors have been designed and integrated into the set allowing a precise and gap-free closure between the LED panels. In summary, the cube is formed by six screens of 9.5 x 2.75-metres on both walls, at the entrance and the one in front, 10 x 2.75-metres on the two side walls and 10 x 9.5-metres on the floor and ceiling, handling in this more extreme case a 5,120 x 4,864 px screen, which requires a management of about 70 millions pixels.
Likewise, environmental antistatic systems have been integrated, as well as electrostatic electricity discharge systems through the LED panels placed on the walls and floor.
Casa Batlló, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005 is an internationally protected building and thus, the challenge was to conciliate the new technology with the preservation of the work done by architect Antoni Gaudí in 1906. The Gaudí Cube, the first total immersive six internal-walled LED room in the world lined with LED screens, reaching a total area of sq metres in LED panels, is the last part of the visit and aimed to preserve and even enhance the visitor’s experience of the original building.
A self-supporting structure for the entire set with a silemblock was built to absorb vibrations from the nearby passage of suburban transport but with enough solidity to allow the mechanical precision of the whole. The union of the LED panels in the structure between walls, floor and ceiling had to be perfect, as in the union of entrance / exit doors and wall in closed state. This was achieved thanks to the accuracy of the mechanical design of LED panels and modules.
To allow the visitors touching the walls and interact with the show it was designed with a protection system for the LED panels to resists hits, scratches, liquids, etc. This was accomplished by developing a special and exclusive version of ORIM (Optical Resin Injection Module) for this project, in its 4th generation.
Iniside the Gaudí Cube a very low pixel pitch with an improved viewing angle had to be proposed, thus it was decided to develop a customised panel with a 1.9mm pixel pitch and an ORIM finish which allows a viewing angle of 175o at both, vertical and horizontal, that offers the visitor a unique visual experience.
To fight SARS-Cov-2 and other air-transmission diseases, a new generation of ORIM was developed to allow cleaning and disinfection with chemical products that eliminate viruses, without altering physical conditions of the compound used. An air cleaning system using bipolar cold plasma ionisation was also implemented.
The Cube is a unique, outstanding and singular project worldwide: the first total immersive six internal-walled LED room in the world. It is the grand finale of an experience that, with the most advanced technology, seeks to offer an exciting, multi-sensory cultural experience.
The Gaudí Cube is an exceptional example of the masterful union of the most advanced technology in the audiovisual world inserted in one of the most iconic UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the planet, Casa Batlló. In addition to being a significant breakthrough in audiovisual integration worldwide, it is also the digital canvas through which audiovisual artists, such as Refik Anadol, can showcase their extraordinary works and exploit the enormous potential that this technology provides.
The project is an innovative, avant-garde, disruptive and unique proposal that takes audiovisual experiences to another level with an infinite potential for digital creation and performance. It brings digital content to all audiences, contributing to digital democracy by facilitating access to new trends in audiovisual technology to all ages. The Gaudí Cube at Casa Batlló welcomes thousands of people into the digital world, thanks to the technology implemented in its construction and the narrative that develops inside it, allowing the user to approach the digital and technological world in a close and meaningful way.
