Long time ISE visitors will be familiar with the long tunnel over the bridge that connects the remote hall 8 of Fira Gran Via to the rest of the showfloor. This year, ISE entrusted Barcelona-based creative studio Instronic with turning the walkway into an immersive experience.
ISE 2026: From Transit to Experience
BREATHE is an immersive spatial installation developed by Instronic in collaboration with Integrated Systems Europe (ISE). The project transforms a transit corridor inside Fira Barcelona, a space conceived purely for movement and efficiency, into a moment of presence without disrupting its function.
Designing meaning into movement
At its core, BREATHE addresses a fundamental spatial question: how can a place designed for movement gain meaning while still allowing people to move through it freely?
The answer is not spectacle, but atmosphere. Light, sound, and digital imagery are composed as a continuous environment that subtly reshapes perception. Visitors remain in control of their pace. Awareness replaces distraction.
The experience progresses as a rhythmic sequence: an abstract inhale and exhale, a moment of figurative bloom, and a visible transformation that unfolds while moving forward. There is no fixed beginning or end. The system evolves over time, designed to be felt rather than explained.
Technology in service of calm
BREATHE is informed by principles of biomimicry and human perception. The body becomes a reference point for rhythm, flow, and continuity. Technology functions as an enabler of reflection, not as a source of noise or excess.
Developed as a fully integrated system, architecture, lighting, sound, and digital media operate as one. Content is time-based and spatially synchronized, looping seamlessly throughout the day. The installation is pre-programmed, with no sensors or reactive triggers. The experience unfolds as visitors move through the space and evolves continuously over time.
Reimagining functional space
BREATHE demonstrates how even the most utilitarian environments can become meaningful without compromising efficiency. By working within the constraints of a high-traffic corridor, Instronic reimagines transition itself as an experience, one that subtly alters how the space is perceived and remembered.
