The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is hosting our exhibition DEMO See the Invisible, an exploration of the unseen dimensions of cities — their myths, memories, and metaphors.
Throughout history, certain cities have transcended geography to become myth cities, the “Eternal City”, the “Water City”, the “Big Apple”. These names evoke places that live both in the physical world and in the collective imagination. Within them, invisible facts and stories shape how we move, remember, and dream. See the Invisible invites audiences to discover these hidden dimensions, those intangible layers that make a city more than just its streets and buildings.
Rooted in a scientific and artistic research project developed by M-Cube Foundation in collaboration with the New York Institute of Technology (as part of the Horizon Europe project NGI-Enrichers), See the Invisible merges hand-drawn 360° panoramas with generative AI to explore the mythological fabric of “eternal cities”, beginning with New York. Through spherical drawings, archival exploration, sociological data, and AI models trained on modern mythology, the project generates layered, immersive visions that merge the physical and the mythical city into one.
The exhibition also features MultipliCity, a special installation dedicated to Venice, created by the artist Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto in collaboration with Universidade Aberta de Lisboa. Venice’s mythical allure has echoed across the globe—its reflection appearing in cities such as Amsterdam, Aveiro, and Stockholm. MultipliCity examines how these “other Venices” influence perceptions and relationships with place, revealing how myth travels, transforms, and redefines urban experience.
By highlighting perspectives often absent from conventional city-design processes, See the Invisible invites audiences to question what – and who – transforms a city into a living myth.
At the same time, the exhibition is a work in progress: an open laboratory that exposes its creative process, revealing how phygital immersive panoramas can become powerful tools to navigate complexity and envision the cities of tomorrow.
The DEMO See the Invisible exhibition arrives in Auckland after its first presentation at the Kulturforum in Berlin (Germany).