MONZA
ALMA - Cathedral of Monza
Audiovisual 3D Mapping, 2021
/ Overview
In 2021 the facade of the Cathedral of Monza was transformed into a living surface through ALMA, an audiovisual 3D mapping project created by Luca Agnani Studio. Presented within KernelX / Kernel Festival, the project interprets the spirit of the cathedral as a journey made of dense matter, voids and solids, lights and darkness set against each other to generate energy.
/ Project Details
Name: ALMA
Client: KernelX / Kernel Festival
Location: Cathedral of Monza, Monza
Date: 24 September – 3 October 2021
Technique: Audiovisual 3D Mapping
Artist: Luca Agnani Studio
/ Challenge
The concept comes from a dialogue with a strongly rhythmic Lombard Gothic facade, made of geometries, marble, solids and voids. The challenge was to build a narrative able to respect the spiritual and architectural identity of the Cathedral of Monza, transforming the facade’s matter into visual energy without losing its relationship with the place.
/ Visual Development
Spiritual journey
ALMA is conceived as a journey into the spirit of the cathedral, where light and darkness alternate to evoke matter, presence and transformation.
Matter and void
The sequences work on contrasts between solids and voids, density and dissolution, bringing out the architectural structure through fields of color, depth and movement.
Audiovisual energy
The visual component integrates with sound in an audiovisual 3D mapping short film designed to animate the cathedral surface and engage the audience in the square.
/ Solution
ALMA transforms the Cathedral of Monza into a visual organism, where architecture breathes through contrasts, luminous vibrations and digital transformations. The project brings an abstract and spiritual narrative onto the facade, built on the balance between matter, light, darkness and energy.
/ Technique
3D mapping
The cathedral facade was digitally reconstructed and calibrated to align animations, depth and transformations with the building’s real geometry.
Audiovisual short film
The work follows the format of an audiovisual 3D mapping short film, where image and sound build a compact and immersive narrative.
Light and contrast
The visual dramaturgy is based on the contrast between lights and darkness, dense surfaces and empty spaces, generating tension, rhythm and energy.
/ Context
ALMA was presented in Monza from 24 September to 3 October 2021 as part of KernelX, with repeated evening shows on the cathedral facade. The project was part of a program of four audiovisual 3D mapping works dedicated to the restored cathedral facade, transformed for the occasion into a space for experimentation between digital art, architecture and sound.