Soft Utopia is an immersive media-art installation that makes an idealised vision of our future living environments tangible.
With an almost ironically optimistic outlook on how we might live together, visitors are invited—alone or with others—to settle into a large, soft lounging landscape. The installation’s organically shaped surface envelops the body, gently moulding itself to each visitor. Above, a luminous screen hovers like a sky and responds to their movements.
In contrast to an anticipated reality that can feel hard, contested, and often inaccessible, Soft Utopia proposes an alternative image of the future: tomorrow’s architecture as a malleable, living counterpart.
Soft Utopia places the human being at its centre. Rigid structures become flexible and soft through movement, and one’s own agency becomes visible. Architecture adapts to the organic form of the body and gently cushions and cradles it. The work presents architecture not as a boundary, but as a feeling of shelter and belonging.
Soft Utopia was specially developed for art karlsruhe 2026 within the Open Call The Shape of Tomorrow and was realized with the kind and generous support of the Werner-Stober Foundation.
With the kind support of AVDATA, Handwerkstatt Hannah Walter, Hartfelder Modellbau & Formenbau, Hoepfner Foundation, Innenausbau Kuppinger, karlsruhe.digital, and Kvadrat.
Time: 05.02.2026 – 08.02.2026
Location: Messe Karlsruhe