Plastique Fantastique

What Plastique Fantastique does

Plastique Fantastique is a Berlin-based art duo founded in 1999 by Marco Canevacci and Yena Young that designs and builds large-scale immersive spatial installations for public spaces, festivals, biennales, and cultural institutions. The studio's core technology is air-filled inflatable membrane architecture — structures whose primary structural element is air rather than solid material — produced in multi-material compositions that combine fossil-based polyurethanes, biodegradable plastics (developed with the Fraunhofer Institute), and algae-based organic membranes. Selected installations integrate participatory and biometric technology, notably the 'Double Heart' work, which captures visitors' heartbeats in real time and transforms them into a collective audiovisual landscape. The studio's documented portfolio in 2025 includes 'Polymeter' (Sea Art Festival, Busan and Porous Festival at Villa Arson, Nice), 'Double Heart' (NOOR Riyadh), '30 Million Years Under the Pavilion' (Korean Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale), and 'Berliner Wedding (und Scheidung)' (Rathausvorplatz Wedding, Berlin).

Name

Plastique Fantastique

Legal name

Plastique Fantastique

Website

https://plastique-fantastique.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Plastique Fantastique is a Berlin-based art duo, founded in 1999, that designs and builds large-scale inflatable immersive installations for international art festivals, biennales, and government cultural institutions across Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immersive Art Installations

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities (71132)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Event Signage, Props & Custom Installations (HSACAOAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wedding & Bridal Shows (MPAGAFAK), Arts, Crafts & Maker Fairs (MPAGAFAJ)

Keywords

• Inflatable installations
• Immersive art
• Spatial architecture
• Temporary installations
• Participatory art

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Art Installation Commissions: Revenue generated through commissioned public art installations at festivals, biennales, and cultural institutions. Projects like NOOR Riyadh, Venice Biennale, and Busan Biennale represent direct commissions from festival organizations and cultural bodies.
2. Institutional Grants and Funding: Support from arts councils (Arts Council Korea), cultural foundations (TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary), and public funding bodies (Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises of Berlin) for specific projects and exhibitions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Plastique Fantastique is an art duo that creates large-scale immersive inflatable spatial installations for international art festivals, architecture biennales, and cultural institutions. The studio designs, fabricates, and installs site-specific participatory artworks using air-filled membrane structures composed of multiple materials, often integrating biometric sensing and sound design to create multisensorial experiences. Projects are delivered as commissioned works for government cultural bodies, arts councils, museums, and festivals worldwide.

Product overview

Plastique Fantastique is an art duo (Marco Canevacci and Yena Young) creating immersive spatial installations that challenge perception and blur boundaries between art, performance, and architecture. Their work consists of large-scale inflatable installations that provide multisensorial experiences, often incorporating participatory elements where visitors become part of the artwork. The portfolio includes: Double Heart (heartbeat-measuring light and sound installation), Polymeter (multi-layered inflatable exploring material temporality), Berliner Wedding (participatory installation on love and law), and 30 Million Years Under the Pavilion (archaeological fiction installation). Each project invites the public to explore imaginary landscapes within existing spaces, questioning the paradoxical nature of perception.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Double Heart An immersive inflatable installation that gathers heartbeats of visitors and transforms them into a collective landscape of light and sound, commissioned for international light art festivals and cultural institutions. Visitors sit inside while their pulses are measured, processed, and reproduced in real time to reveal rhythmic patterns and explore compatibility between strangers.
• Polymeter An immersive inflatable installation composed of three concentric, air-filled membranes made from distinct materials reflecting phases in material and ecological evolution. Features an outer fossil-based polyurethane shell, middle biodegradable plastic layer, and innermost hand-crafted algae membrane, accompanied by a soundscape of plastic-derived audio textures.
• Berliner Wedding (und Scheidung) A large-scale participatory installation commissioned by the Berlin Mitte District Office exploring the dissonances between love and law. Guides visitors through a journey from infatuation to pop-up weddings and express divorces, featuring ephemeral art installations, performers, and DJ sets.
• 30 Million Years Under the Pavilion A site-specific installation for the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, a hidden exhibition revealed only when the pavilion is dismantled, featuring the fictional Nanogyna acephala, a headless hominid species discovered in Giardini in 1993. Transforms the pavilion into an archaeological fiction blending scientific imagination and architectural memory.

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• TETRO (Matthieu Debay and Nicolas Roziecki)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Collaboration on DOUBLE HEART installation at NOOR Riyadh 2025. TETRO contributed to the technical execution and design of the biometric installation that measures and transforms visitor heartbeats into light and sound experiences.
• Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Materials Research (IAP)coreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration on POLYMETER project providing biodegradable plastic materials (Bio PBSA - polybutylene succinate adipate) for the middle membrane layer of the multi-material inflatable installation. Fraunhofer IAP developed the transitional, science-driven biodegradable plastic component.
• Arts Council Korea (ARKO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported Korean Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 where Plastique Fantastique's Yena Young participated. Arts Council Korea acts as commissioner for the national pavilion.
• S+T+ARTS (Science+Technology+Arts)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean initiative supporting the integration of science, technology, and arts. Provided support for POLYMETER installation at Villa Arson's Porous Festival, connecting artists with technology partners.
• TBA21 - Thyssen-Bornemisza Art ContemporaryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor contemporary art foundation supporting innovative art projects. Supported Plastique Fantastique's POLYMETER installation and related exhibition activities.
• GLUONminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBelgian platform connecting art, science, and technology. Co-supported POLYMETER installation as part of European network of art-science collaborations.
• Villa ArsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench national art center in Nice that hosted POLYMETER as part of Porous Festival 2025. Provided venue, production support, and curatorial framework for the installation.
• Berlin Mitte District Office (Department of Art, Culture and History)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on Berliner Wedding (und Scheidung) participatory installation at Rathausvorplatz Wedding. Department provided funding through 'Special Tourist Projects in the Districts' program and curatorial collaboration.
• visitBerlinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial Berlin tourism organization partnered on Berliner Wedding (und Scheidung) installation to promote Berlin as a cultural destination through innovative public art.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/plastique.fantastique.berlin
• Instagraminstagram.com/plastique.fantastique
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plastique-fantastique

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Plastique Fantastique