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Zava designs lighting installation for climate quiz at Venice Architecture Biennale

Promotion: an interactive lighting installation designed by metalwork and lighting specialist Zava, which invites visitors to participate in a climate change quiz is on display at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Displayed at the Venice Architecture Biennale as part of the Korean Pavilion – which Zava has a partnership with – the installation was designed by the brand to engage visitors in a quiz show-style game named The Game of Together How, which measures the impact of fictional actions in response to issues surrounding climate change.

Visitors interacting with the exhibition
The installation was designed by Zava

Drawing on the UN's projection of 2086 as being the year in which the global population is expected to peak, the company designed the installation in response to the theme of this year's Korean Pavilion, which is titled 2086: Together How?.

Curated by artistic directors Soik Jung and Kyong Park, the exhibition explores the potential for collaborative action and methods of endurance against environmental crises until 2086.

People engaging with the exhibition
During the exhibition visitors engage in a quiz on climate change

"The demographic clock is ticking: according to United Nations estimates, the world's population will peak before the end of the century, in 2086, with just over 10.4 billion people, when the planet's resources will not be sufficient for humanity to survive," said the artistic directors of Korea Pavilion, Soik Jung and Kyong Park.

Forming a central part of the pavilion is Zava's luminous, interactive wall, which comprises seven panels that join to form a wave-shaped structure.

A photograph of a piece of paper that says "Is Culture Above Nature?"
The company designed the installation in response to the theme of this year's Korean Pavilion, titled 2086: Together How?.

Spanning a length of seven metres, the series of black screens are installed with grids of LEDs of three different colours, which light up in response to the player's answers.

"The wall required the development of no less than 420 LED plates controlled by 105 electronic boards, specially designed for this project," said the company. "There are 2000 metres of cables to operate the light wave."

To engage visitors in climate learning, a row of screens above the Wave Wall display a series of multiple-choice questions on social, political and economic issues related to climate change.

The exhibition was curated by artistic directors Solk Jung and Kyong Park

Four tables arranged across the front of the wall hold amber, blue and green buttons that players can use to answer the questions on screen. In response to each answer submitted by a player, the LED of the same colour as the button pressed lights up on the wall.

After each player has been scored, the screens display the environmental impact of their actions, including global CO2 levels, temperature and sea level. Over the course of the exhibition, the scores contribute to an annual register that tracks the overall climatic impact that has been created by all the responses given by the end of the exhibition period.

In addition to the Wave Wall installation, Zava has added three hanging lighting features to the exhibition space.

An exhibition with white interiors and a circular lamp
Lighting designed by Valerio Cometti as part of the company's Rings collection includes three ring-shaped lights of varying diameters

Designed by Valerio Cometti as part of the company's Rings collection, the fixture comprises three ring-shaped lights of varying diameters, including a 3-metre-wide light that was made specifically for the pavilion.

Founded over forty years ago in Veneto, Zava is a design company specialising in metalworking and lighting design.

Produced using advanced technologies, the company’s installation at the Korean Pavilion is one of various designs on display at Venice Architecture Biennale, including the Ukraine Pavilion’s maze of grass mounds informed by war defence structures and a supermarket with shelves exhibiting the history of the biennale.

To learn more about Zava, visit its website.

The Venice Architecture Biennale takes place from 20 May to 26 November 2023. See Dezeen Events Guide for the latest information on the event and to discover other architecture and design events taking place across the world.