POP UP

designed by 
Rachele Ercoli and Paola Di Stefano

In a city like Rome, there are many music lovers: this creative momentum often begins as a "hobby" and then evolves into a band and, more or less sophisticated, musical projects. In a smaller reality like the headquarters of Ex Poste della Sapienza but, in any case, full of university students and boys with different attitudes and skills, we imagine there are many young musicians. The goal of this project is precisely to address them by helping them in one of their goals: to make their music known. From these premises POPUP is born: a suggestive way to listen to songs by different emerging artists, united by their strong musical passion and by being Sapienza students. It is a "service" offered by the university for its student musicians. Any corridor can be set up with various POPUPs using a museum approach: next to each panel there is in fact a small square support, with the print of the album cover ready to listen, a QRCODE and instructions for use. The user, intrigued in primis by the cover, can have more information on the song or on the band by reading the QRCODE with his smartphone which takes him directly to the site. From here, in addition to the various insights, it is possible to activate the POPUP and listen to the song using your own headphones. The object is composed as a "formal revisitation" of the platforms present, mainly in music stores, useful to hear the various CDs on sale through headphones. Without annoying the overall aesthetics of the building and without occupying the space forcefully, the (white) POPUP camouflages itself on the walls of the interior corridors, on which it is fixed. It is a "surprise" object-setting: opening it, just like a pop-up book (it takes its name), its geometric paper structure takes shape in space. This white volume comes alive when the user wears his own headphones and puts on play. While the song is being played, on the open surface of POPUP, they dance abstract animations to the rhythm of the music heard. There are various specimens, all white, but with different overhanging shapes: this choice recalls the existence of various musical genres. In addition to diversifying in form, the projections on the object are of various types and colors, thus emphasizing the uniqueness of each CD on display. The relationship between the opening phase and the start of the projection, managed by MadMapper, occurs through the use of Arduino.