Germany has divided opinion at the Venice Architecture Biennale by inviting visitors to wander around an empty pavilion and experience digital content via QR codes.
Called 2038 ? The New Serenity, the presentation consists of a virtual "Cloud Pavilion" accessed by pointing smartphones at matrix barcodes on the walls of Germany's neoclassical exhibition venue in the biennale gardens.
Visitors use QR codes to access digital content
Visitors can then watch movies on their devices that explore how the world could be in 2038.
The exhibition was curated by an international team of over one hundred architects, ecologists, artists, scientists, writers and politicians.
Team 2038 was founded by Arno Brandlhuber, Olaf Grawert, Nikolaus Hirsch and Christopher Roth and among its members are Tatiana Bilbao and Patrik Schumacher. "Architects realized that they don?t only build in space, but also in time," the curators said.
"In a series of films, 2038 tells the story of a better world in which everything, though imperfect, is better in some pretty profound and radical ways."
Visitor says pavilion is "a little arrogant"
The pavilion is one of the most controversial contributions to the biennale, infuriating some visitors and delighting others.
"The German pavilion was just a few QR codes," wrote architecture writer Tim Abrahams on his Instagram. "I did try and trigger them but honestly I found my soul calcifying after about 3 seconds.&...