An 1834 Mediterranean Garden in Berlin: Engaged from 2004, 2018, 2032, and 2202

Abstract

In 2004, a team of researchers realized a semi-immersive interactive gallery installation, visualizing an 1834 Mediterranean garden, introduced as "italienisches Kunststück" (Italian legerdemain) by Peter Joseph Lenné. The park was originally realized on the grounds of Schloss Sanssouci in Potsdam, Germany. The installation centered on highly detailed renderings of hundreds of plants projected upon a panoramic display. Interactivity was expressed with a tangible interface which (while presently dated) we believe remains without near-precedent then or since. We present the installation (experienced by roughly 20,000 visitors), focusing on the interaction aspects. We introduce new book and table/door-format mockups. Drawing upon a heuristic of the scientist-philosopher Freeman Dyson, we consider grounded future prospect variations in the contexts of 2018, 2032, and 2202. We see this exercise as prospectively generalizing to a variety of similar and widely diverse application domains.