Assistant Professor Daniela Fabricius participated in a discussion hosted at Princeton University, exploring the intersection of virtual architecture, art, and the utopian legacies of German modernism. The conversation featured Fabricius alongside artist Josphine Meckseper, and architect Hani Rashid, and was held on the occasion of Meckseper’s exhibition Scenario for a Past Future (2022). During the conversation, Professor Fabricius delved into the historic implications of the modernist glass box as a container for viewing art, and its inverse relationship to the concept of “deep storage” -- a space designed for both safeguarding and concealing artworks. She compared this concept of safeguarding assets with the security mechanisms of cryptocurrencies within the metaverse.
Fabricius also explored the territorial implications of Bruno Taut’s Alpine Architecture, juxtaposing it with contemporary virtual environments and the burgeoning market for virtual real estate. She questioned the extent to which these digital spaces remain solely virtual, especially when aligned with real-world endeavors like micronations and physical cryptocurrency mining operations.
The discussion unfolded within the immersive virtual space of Scenario for a Past Future (2022), conceived as a modernist glass vitrine inspired by the architecture of Lilly Reich and Mies van der Rohe and Bruno Taut. This event was presented by Princeton University’s Department of Art and Archaeology and the Lewis Center for the Arts. It was further supported by Princeton’s Humanities Council, Center for Digital Humanities, and Program in Media and Modernity.
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