HAPPENING 2 design for events
HAPPENING 2 design for events
Frame Publishers Amsterdam
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EXHI BITIONS
007 BIG MAZE by Bjarke Ingels Group WHAT BIG
MAZE WHERE WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATE WHEN JULY 2014 CLIENT NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM DESIGNER BJARKE INGELS GROUP (P.295) CONSTRUCTOR SEVERAL FLOOR AREA 346 m2 CAPACITY – PHOTOS KEVIN ALLEN
← The maze’s plywood walls gradually diminish toward the centre, lending the structure its concave shape. ↑ Visitors to the museum’s upper-floor balconies are offered an aerial view of the mazes below.
BIG INVERTS THE MAZE TO BRING PERCEPTUAL CLARITY TO ITS NORMALLY CONVOLUTED CORE. For an installation at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C., Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) looked at the style of mazes through history and asked: ’Can a maze reveal itself?’ The maze’s straightforward concept is clearly put forward by the studio’s founder architect Bjarke Ingels: ‘As you travel deeper into a maze, your path typically becomes more convoluted. What if we invert this scenario and create a panoptic on that brings clarity and visual understanding upon reaching the heart of the labyrinth?’ From the outside, the maze’s cube-like form hides the final reveal behind its over 5-m-tall perimeter
walls. On the inside, the walls slowly descend towards the centre, concluding with a grand reveal: a 360 degree understanding of where visitors came from and where they need to go next. Sitting in the West court of the museum’s Great Hall, the concave 346-m2 maze is built entirely from Baltic Birch plywood and signals a follow-up exhibition about the studio’s work.
009 DMM. PLANETS by teamLab WHAT DMM.PLANETS WHERE TOKYO,
JAPAN WHEN JULY 2016 CLIENT DMM.COM DESIGNER TEAMLAB (P.300) CONSTRUCTORS FUJIART AND NOMURA FLOOR AREA 3000 m2 CAPACITY – PHOTOS COURTESY OF TEAMLAB
← As visitors wander through the Crystel Universe, their movement affects the light particles, bringing the installation to life. Interaction can also be achieved through a mobile app, so that visitors are able to use their smartphones to select specific actions. ↑ The Crystal Universe installation is a threedimensional light sculpture made up of suspended, digitally-controlled LED strips.
TEAMLAB CREATES AN OTHERWORLDLY DIGITAL ART EXHIBITION. DMM.Planets invites visitors to take off their shoes and immerse themselves in a maze of digital art. The exhibition, created by interdisciplinary collective teamLab for Japanese e-commerce company DMM.com, spans over 3000 m2 and is a part of Fuji Television’s summer event Odaiba Minnano Yume Tairiku. Beginning and ending in dark and narrow passages, the exhibition’s four interactive installations are thought out as abstract spaces where each person’s behaviour influences everyone’s experience of the space. Each installation represents a different environment – or planet – with the entire experience presenting itself as a voyage through a distant galaxy.
In DMM.Planets, art becomes the result of the interaction between the space’s architecture, lighting design, digital projections, and the visitor’s own body. In this sense, it is truly experienced, not simply looked at. By not hinting at the number or succession of spaces, the designers hope that visitors’ experience is one of constant surprise, never knowing exactly where they are, what will come next, or how they will feel. Suddenly they reach the end, exiting back into our galaxy.
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↓ This artwork uses accumulated light points to create a sculptural body, much like dots of different colours form an image in a pointillist painting. → As the trajectory of the fish is influenced by the movement of visitors and other koi, a glowing, live drawing is continually recreated on the water’s surface.
DMM.Planets
teamLab
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Exhibitions
Tokyo
The experience presents itself as a voyage through a distant galaxy
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Exhibitions
Tokyo
DMM.Planets spans over 3000 m²
← ¦ The space’s truly kaleidoscopic atmosphere is created through real-time projections made by a computer programme where visuals are never replicated. ↑ In Drawing on the Water Surface Created by the Dance of Koi and People – Infinity, the floor is filled with water and the walls clad in mirrors. Visitors are invited to step into the water, where colourful images of koi fish are projected. ← In Floating in the Falling Universe of Flowers, a dome-shaped installation whose floor is clad in mirrors, a changing universe of flowers spreads into infinity.
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DMM.Planets
teamLab
Art is the result of the interaction between architecture, lighting, technology, and the body
↑ As plants grow, bloom, wither and die, visitors can interact with the installation by sending butterflies to the projection through a mobile application. → The walls and floor of DMM.Planets’ first installation are lined with black soft cushions. Visitors must negotiate their way through this wobbly room while being mindful of the people around them.
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Exhibitions
Tokyo
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FASH ION SHOWS
059 ACNE STUDIOS MEN’S SS17 by Acne Studios WHAT ACNE
STUDIOS MEN’S SS17 WHERE PARIS, FRANCE WHEN JUNE 2016 CLIENT ACNE STUDIOS DESIGNER ACNE STUDIOS (P.294) CONSTRUCTOR EYESIGHT FLOOR AREA 350 m2 CAPACITY 350 GUESTS PHOTOS ACNE STUDIOS
← A huge mirror leans against the end wall, adding depth to the room, reflecting the weary concrete ceiling that was left intact. ↑ Acne Studios Men’s SS17 collection reflects the mood of the Swedish summer.
ACNE STUDIOS DISPLAYS CRISP, CONTEMPORARY COLLECTION IN DERELICT SETTING. For the presentation of its Men’s Spring-Summer 2017 collection at Paris Fashion Week, Acne Studios chose Lycée Charlemagne, an old school near Le Marais, in central Paris. The collection, whose pieces reflect the nostalgic mood of the Swedish summer, found in the school’s weary, ravaged interiors a perfect setting. On the building’s third floor, a large, rectangular room became the catwalk, with mirrors and school chairs lining the floors and making up the setting for a musical chairs game-inspired choreography. When the music stops, models drag the chairs across the wooden floors, creating a sound in itself, then freeze and sit down at a random spot.
Venue, props, and choreography come together to prompt the same nostalgia that inspired the collection. ‘This is a fresh take on menswear at Acne Studios, one that is very crisp and clear. I was thinking about how empty Sweden is in the summer, and also how romantic. We looked at tents, thought about nostalgia, and also considered how to evolve the waterproof jacket,’ designer Jonny Johansson explains.
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Acne Studios Men’s SS17
Acne Studios
The presentation consisted of a musical chairs game-inspired choreography
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Fashion Shows
Paris
← The multi-coloured windows are left open to let daylight in, while spotlights illuminate the central presentation area. ↖ Wooden school chairs were draged around by the models during the musical chairs gameinspired choreography. ↗ Seemingly randomly placed mirrors line the dusty, wooden floors of a derelict school room turned catwalk.
063 ACNE STUDIOS RESORT 2017 by Acne Studios WHAT ACNE
STUDIOS MEN’S SS17 WHERE PARIS, FRANCE WHEN MAY 2016 CLIENT ACNE STUDIOS DESIGNER ACNE STUDIOS (P.294) CONSTRUCTOR EYESIGHT FLOOR AREA 80 m2 CAPACITY – PHOTOS ACNE STUDIOS
← Acne Studios sober concept for the presentation of their Resort 2017 collection made for a crisp backdrop that highlighted the collection’s futuristic edge. ↑ Twelve white foam stools lined the original wood panel wall, contrasting with the dark grey foam that constituted the runway.
FUTURISTIC BACKDROP INSPIRED BY THE FOLLOWERS OF AMERICAN PSYCHEDELIC ROCK BAND. The set up for Acne Studios Resort 2017 fashion show, held at Palais des Beaux-Arts in Paris, was envisioned with a kew mission: to emphasise the collection, initially inspired by the followers of the American Rock band Grateful Dead. In the venue, old-fashioned elements like the original wood walls panels, arched, stuccoed ceiling, and velvetupholstered sitting contrasted with metallic colours and modern materials, including temporary white walls, or the dark grey foam runway and white foam stools. ‘I love the counterculture around the Grateful Dead and the Deadheads who followed them,’ the brand’s creative director Jonny Johansson explains.
‘I got thinking about what the daughter of a Deadhead would wear today, her self-possessed attitude, the freedom and fluidity of her clothing, the complexity of the prints, the futuristic edge.’
065 COACH 1941 SS16 SHOW by Stefan Beckman Studio WHAT COACH
1941 SS16 SHOW WHERE NEW YORK, UNITED STATES WHEN SEPTEMBER 2015 CLIENT COACH DESIGNER STEFAN BECKMAN STUDIO (P.300) CONSTRUCTORS ARENA AND CREATIVE ENGINEERING FLOOR AREA 835 m2 CAPACITY 500 GUESTS PHOTOS HARRY DUTTON
← Western meets Upper East Side with a sense of the American outdoors. ↑ The catwalk resembled both a mirrored boardwalk and a running stream.
HIGH FASHION FLOURISHES IN A ROMANTIC MEADOWLAND IN THE MIDST OF URBAN NEW YORK. For New York Fashion Week, Coach decided to stage its Spring 2016 Women’s runway show on the site of its new headquarters in Hudson Yards which was located beside the High Line – a challenge since the building was still under construction. For this show, designer Stefan Beckman had to find a way to showcase the location, which has stunning views of Hudson River, while dealing with an active construction site. The concept proposed to house the show inside a large glass-walled tent structure that blurred the boundaries between inside and outside. In the spirit of the wild gardens on the High Line, the interior celebrates nature, where a mirrored catwalk meanders
through a spectacular indoor meadow. Around 10,000 wild grasses were planted to recreate this graceful landscape. Centrally positioned is a freestanding tiered podium, made from oak planks that provided seating for the audience. While the mirrored surfaces of the runway added a contemporary touch, they also recalled pooled water reflections. A film coating on the glass facades lent a golden hue to the light – resulting in an especially enchanting effect when the warm Western sun filtered through the grasses that sunny autumn afternoon.
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INSTAL  LATIONS INDOOR
123 CURIOSITY CLOUD by mischer’ traxler studio WHAT CURIOSITY
CLOUD WHERE LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM WHEN SEPTEMBER 2015 CLIENT PERRIER-JOUËT DESIGNER MISCHER’TRAXLER STUDIO (P.298) CONSTRUCTOR MISCHER’TRAXLER STUDIO FLOOR AREA 60 m² CAPACITY – PHOTOS ED REEVE
← The ornate historic interior of the Norfolk House Music Room contrasts dramatically with the delicate, technological nature of the installation. ↑ Different sections of the cloud activate as people come and go, enabling the installation to take on a life of its own.
A SURREAL SETTING WHERE DELICATE ARTIFICIAL INSECTS FLUTTER INSIDE GLOWING BULBS. Entitled Curiosity Cloud mischer’traxler’s installation for Perrier-Jouët for the London Design Festival presented a dream-like realm inside the Norfolk House Music Room at the V&A Museum. Perrier-Jouët briefed the studio to create an installation that offers a contemporary reinterpretation of Art Nouveau, which characterises the heritage of the champagne house. The concept looks to nature, which informs both the art style and the process of making champagne. Visitors encounter a darkened room filled with mysterious outlines of suspended glass bulbs. As people approach, the vessels flicker and glow and start to tinkle from within. Upon closer inspection, the bulbs contain
delicate insects that flutter against the glass, more excitedly as visitors approach. This hive of sound, light and movement curiously follows people as they weave through the cloud. The installtion comprises 264 mouth-blown glass bulbs, each of which contains a single, artificial handcrafted insect – 25 species in total – attached by a thin string to a special metal cap. The technology that animates the installation involves a complex system of circuits, motors, LEDs and sensors. Capturing the energy and surprise of champagne Curiosity Cloud leaves visitors awed by the ethereal beauty of nature.
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Curiosity Cloud
mischer’traxler studio
Bulbs flicker and glow, tinkling from within
↗ Curiosity Cloud invites visitors to experience a transient moment in nature. → The 25 selected insect species are organised into three categories: extinct or highly endangered; very common; and newly discovered. Rather than fabricate imaginary insects the designers wanted to use real species to underline the true beauty of nature. ¦ → The organic glass bulbs were designed in three different sizes and custom produced by Lobmeyr for the installation. The metal caps were crafted by Wilhelm Seidl using a traditional metal spinning technique.
127 DEEP WEB by Whitevoid
WHAT DEEP
WEB WHERE BERLIN, GERMANY WHEN FEBRUARY 2016 CLIENT FÊTE DES LUMIÈRES LYON DESIGNER WHITEVOID (P.301) CONSTRUCTORS KINETIC LIGHTS AND LASERANIMATION SOLLINGER FLOOR AREA 3450 m² CAPACITY 2000 GUESTS PHOTOS RALPH LARMANN
← Light is used as a tangible material to construct three-dimensional vector drawings in thin air. ↑ The precision and synchronisation of the lasers, the kinetic movement and the complexity of sound on that scale was the result of a close collaboration between specialists in each field.
THIS ELECTRIC COMPOSITION OF ART, TECHNOLOGY AND MUSIC JOURNEYS INTO THE DEPTHS OF DIGITAL SPACE. Mesmerising and utterly immersive, Deep Web is an epic audiovisual installation and live performance that explores the intricacies of digital connections. Created by light artist Christopher Bauder (Whitevoid) and composer and musician Robert Henke the piece wows audiences with a choreographed show of kinetic light and surround sound. A pitch black hall sets the scene. The complex show plays out on a 25-m-wide and 10-m-high framed structure that integrates 12 high power laser systems and 175 suspended spheres. This tangible frame is overlaid with a digital skin. Moving up and down, the spheres are synchronised with blasts of colourful laser
beams and choreographed with an electronic musical score. As if slicing through space the lines move fluidly to trace sculptural patterns, intersecting with precision at moving nodes – the result is an ethereal dance of three-dimensional light and sound. The piece incorporates sounds and visual patterns from early telecommunications and fibre-optic communications systems, and evokes visual references to early wire frame computer graphics and futuristic holograms. For the audience, it felt as if the invisible digital connections that surrounded them in the space suddenly materialised before their very eyes…
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Deep Web
Whitevoid
An ethereal dance of three-dimensional light and sound
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Installations (Indoor)
Berlin
← The multi-channel music score has an incredible three-dimensionality quality. To create this complexity in the surround sound, eight different channels were used – in comparison; a regular stereo system uses two channels. ↑ Deep Web was presented as two versions: an exhibition with a 20 minute looped show and a live concert that lasted 50 minutes.
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INSTAL LATIONS OUT DOOR
171 8½ by Orizzontale
WHAT 8½ WHERE ROME,
ITALY WHEN JUNE 2014 CLIENT FONDAZIONE MAXXI DESIGNER ORIZZONTALE (P.299) CONSTRUCTORS HANDLE ART & DESIGN AND ORIZZONTALE FLOOR AREA 780 m² CAPACITY 500 GUESTS PHOTOS MUSACCHIO IANNIELLO – COURTESY OF FONDAZIONE MAXXI AND ALESSANDRO IMBRIACO
← The installation proposed a space where people could be both spectators of special events and actors of the ‘everyday public play’ ↑ As an added layer the upper floor give visitors a different perspective of the site while extending the stage of the theatre.
THIS THEATRICAL, MULTIPURPOSE INSTALLATION SETS THE STAGE FOR THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF PUBLIC SPACE. The quiet forecourt of the Maxxi museum in Rome was activated into a buzzing urban square as part of the YAP (Young Architects Program) Maxxi design competition. Entitled 8½ Orizzontale’s temporary mobile theatre explored the duality of public space, especially its transition from an intimate space for individual encounters to an arena for public events. As both spectators and actors, the public was invited to engage freely with the structure that comprised an 8.5-m-high platform/stage and an accompanying arena. Fashioned from modular timber frames, the two-storey platform was adorned with 312 plastic beer kegs (collected from all over Rome)
cleverly repurposed into light fittings. The upper floor doubled as a stage and observation deck. As a public summer venue the structure needed proper seating and shade. In the arena a series of ‘relational objects’ function as both shared seats and mini stages, while long bands of white shade cloth extended from the platform to the ground to create shelter and a sense of enclosure. Together the wall and arena form an intimate relational space, an urban room for visitors to play, observe, chill out or to just stay.
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Installations (Outdoor)
Rome
People become both spectators and actors
← An opening in the structure could be used to access the ‘interior’ space or as a small stage facing either side ↑ The use of upcycled plastic beer kegs also addressed the sustainability, innovation and budget aspects of the brief. Illuminated by night the stage glittered spectacularly. ↗ The position of the seating elements corresponds with the form of the steps at the edge of the museum and the gravel sections in the courtyard, and provided clear views of the stage. → Open from both sides the stage played with the threshold of front and back in public space.
181 DELIRIOUS FRITES by Les Astronautes WHAT DELIRIOUS
FRITES WHERE QUEBEC, CANADA WHEN JULY 2014 CLIENT EXMURO DESIGNER LES ASTRONAUTES (P.297) CONSTRUCTOR LES ASTRONAUTES FLOOR AREA – CAPACITY – PHOTOS ROBIN DUPUIS AND EXMURO
← The large number of pool noodles generates a colourful atmosphere that exudes an uncanny, organic and lifelike feel, almost like vines in a jungle. ↑ The name Delirious Frites comes directly from the installation’s main component, which in French are called ‘frites de piscine,’ or pool French fries.
POOL NOODLES FLOOD AN ABANDONED ALLEY WITH COLOUR. Gabrielle Blais-Dufour, Robin Dupuis and Alexandre Hamlyn, of Canadian design collective Les Astronautes create a delirious installation for a passage in Quebec’s Old Quarter. As part of the first edition of Les Passage Insolites, a public art festival curated by Exmuro, Delirious Frites fits hundreds of pink and orange pool noodles in an abandoned alley. The piece creates a total environment that throws passersby into an otherworldly experience. Taking advantage of the anonymity and narrowness of the site, the intervention’s polyethylene foam tubes produce a striking contrast with the stone facades
of the historical surroundings. This contrast, together with the organic atmosphere created by the wavy foam walls, attracts people to discover a forgotten space in the city. The installation was designed using Grasshopper, a graphical algorithm editor, integrated with the 3D modelling software Rhino. These programs allowed for different iterations to be produced without loss of control over the number of pool noodles used, and granted the high precision necessary to create a fluid form.
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OPEN INGS & LAUN CHES
261 AUDI SECRET LABS by Designliga WHAT AUDI
SECRET LABS WHERE TELFS-BUCHEN/SEEFELD, AUSTRIA WHEN OCTOBER 2015 CLIENT AUDI DESIGNER DESIGNLIGA (P.296) CONSTRUCTOR – FLOOR AREA 650 m² CAPACITY 200 GUESTS PHOTOS COURTESY OF DESIGNLIGA
← The design language of the presentation hall looks to translate the image of Audi’s brand into an underground laboratory. ↑ The indoor tennis court of the Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol and adjoining areas are the setting for the imaginary world of Audi Secret Labs.
A JAMES BOND INSPIRED UNDERGROUND LABORATORY IS THE SETTING FOR AUDI’S 2015 CENTRAL LAUNCH TRAINING. Designliga blends various disciplines into a fully integrated brand experience for Audi’s 2015 Central Launch Training (CLT). The resulting project is Audi Secret Labs, an imaginary world of top-secret vehicles, security operations, and subterranean laboratories developed, scripted and designed by the Munich-based visual communication and interior design studio. Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol, a monumental building complex sitting at 1300 m altitude in the heart of the Austrian Alps, serves as a stunning backdrop for an emotion-driven product presentation that immediately calls to mind Ian Flemming’s spy novels. Black-suited security guards, feisty fictional characters, and
multimedia elements incorporated into the show’s graphic design and architecture, are some of the elements that the studio employs for the creation of an exhilarating experience. Audi’s national and international trade marketing staff make for an audience of almost 12,000 people from 40 different countries. With exclusive access to the top-secret complex of subterranean laboratories carved into the mountain below the hotel, they are able to glimpse into the ultra-confidential world of Audi, guided by Professor Edge. This multi-sensory product show is the culmination of CLT, a 2-day training event held in Munich, receiving groups of 200 participants over a period of 3 months.
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Audi Secret Labs
Designliga
Designliga develops, scripts and designs a fully integrated brand experience
↑ Architecture, graphic design, multimedia elements, moving images and acting blend into a fully intergrated brand experience. → G raphic and audio-visual elements complete the laboratory setting, creating the impression that the complex extends deep and far beneath the hotel, with countless levels and long test tracks. ¦ → Rigid lines, geometric shapes and darkened spaces characterise the architecture of Audi Secret Labs, evoking the world of spies, secret services and underground laboratories that inspired it.
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↓ All essential aspects of vehicles’ presentation, as well as the roles of the marketing staff, are incorporated into the script. → Architecture, graphic design, multimedia elements, moving images, and acting blend into a fully integrated brand experience. ¦ → A dialogue between Professor Edge, Head of Engineering at Audi Secret Labs, and Security – represented by a female voiceover – constitutes the product presentation.
Audi Secret Labs
Designliga
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Opening & Launches
Telfs-Buchen / Seefeld
Audi Secret Labs immediately calls to mind Ian Flemming’s spy novels
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Happening 2
HAPPENING 2 Design for Events
Credits
ISBN: 978-94-92311-03-0 © 2017 Frame Publishers, Amsterdam, 2017
Publisher Frame Publishers Production Marlous van Rossum-Willems and Melika Agabeigi Authors Jeanne Tan, Ana Martins and Matthew Hurst Graphic Design Studio Adriaan Mellegers Prepress Edward de Nijs Cover Photography Noah Kalina (front) and courtesy of LaMode en Images (back)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy or any storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, Frame Publishers does not under any circumstances accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Any mistakes or inaccuracies will be corrected in case of subsequent editions upon notification to the publisher. Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorinefree pulp. TCF ∞ Printed in Poland 987654321
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Happenings are very much still happening – more than enough reason to launch a sequel to our first event-themed title. In the age of social media, the event is becoming a mass-marketing campaign that targets a global audience. And its reach is far greater if it’s both memorable and photogenic. Happening 2 covers over 60 stunning spectacles – from fashion shows to festivals and exhibitions to exclusive product launches – that leave lasting impressions.
Events offer designers the perfect testing ground; they are ideal opportunities to experiment with spatial perception and sensory experiences. Happening 2 travels the globe to cover memorable moments by the likes of Bureau Betak, Bompas & Parr, MVRDV, Snarkitecture and teamLab, revealing how the designers translated their concepts from page to platform. The event industry monumentalises the fleeting, and Happening 2 does the same.