Diorama at Hotel Sacher

In context with the redesign of the Café Sacher Eck in the Hotel Sacher, Vienna, the team of Ars Electronica Solutions in 2017 was entrusted with the development of several interactive installations for the luxury class hotel. On behalf of Ars Electronica, Garamantis then designed the digital part of the analogue/digital highlight installation – an interactive paper silhouette of enormous proportions.

The venerable house wanted to present its time-honored traditional craftmanship that goes into the making of an original Sacher cake in a way that appeals even to a target group of young people and attracts them to the remodeled Café Sacher. This was achieved by a paper cut reproduction of the hotel’s characteristic façade with several little scenes and stories to be observed through the hotel “windows”. Here, visitors can take a peek into the daily goings-on in Hotel Sacher and, for instance, spot the hotel guests’ silhouettes sip a glass of champagne on the hotel terrace. Furthermore, they can discover children frolicking around in hotel rooms, a cozy Christmas Eve scenario complete with gifts, or an entire cake-production sequence in the hotel’s patisserie.

This extremely complex and elaborate silhouette was handmade by two local paper cutting artists who in more than 1.400 hours of loving detail work created a paper version of Hotel Sacher. Behind this sits a 75″ monitor with extremely high brightness that displays the digital stories. The software designed by Garamantis synchronizes itself automatically with the web‑based CMS, through which scenes and content can be easily added or exchanged. The installation features interactive elements; for example, the scenes’ appearance adapts itself according to the day-night rhythm and the animations reflect the different seasons. Furthermore, the installation is linked to Twitter via a special hashtag, so visitors can send their own messages to the diorama which are then projected onto the paper model.

Two further installations in the form of LED-lit display cases showing typically Viennese scenes and a monitor installed behind semi-mirrored glass complement the both modern and subtle interior design of the new Café Sacher Eck.

Photos by F. Voggeneder