The Olympics are in full swing and, although the "Coastal Cluster" of stadiums has attracted a considerable amount of attention, there is one installation demanding interaction from every spectator. Built at the entrance of Sochi's Olympic Park is Asif Khan Studio's "MegaFaces," a pavilion that "contorts itself to recreate 3D images of the faces of visitors relayed via digital face scans made in photo booths installed within the building."
Comprised of 11,000 actuators sitting underneath the cube's stretchy fabric membrane, the installation allows for three, eight meter tall faces to emerge from the wall at a time (the faces that emerge from the side of the pavilion are enlarged by 3500%). According to the designers, this feature of the building "has been likened to a giant pin screen and a digital, architectural Mount Rushmore."
For Asif Khan, the enduring prominence of the face and facial iconography in digital communication was a clear and very literal starting point. "The ability for any person to be reflected back to the world via the building lends this project a democratic and very human sensibility, with the potential for any passerby and even visitors at photo booths to be installed in MegaFon stores across Russia, to achieve the ultimate Olympic accolade: to become a hero."
