Google France has unveiled the first episode of Curio-Cité, a series of films, immersive 360° VR video masterclasses and live events allowing people to jump head first into the world of urban exploration (colloquially known as “Urbex”) in Paris. In this first episode of #GoogleCuriocité, we follow David De Rueda, an urban explorer and photographer who shares the urbex philosophy and takes us to incredible places in and around Paris. A short documentary, directed by Antoine Besse, introduces David’s creativity and encourages you to follow him and try urbex and photography for yourself. AKQA Creative Director Nicolai Smith said: “With Google Curio-Cité, we wanted to demonstrate how Google can help any of us into a new life adventure. We used the documentary format to inspire people, and open their eyes to a different way of looking at the world surrounding them. At the same time, through VR masterclasses, we give people the tools and knowledge to turn the inspiration into a passion and embark on a new journey in life.”
The full experience, created by AKQA, comes together on a dedicated Curio-Cité page on the Google Arts & Culture platform, to further inspire people to get started with their own urban exploration thanks to the use of Google products. The page offers rich and immersive cultural content (articles, photography and links to online exhibitions) provided by local partners such as the Mairie de Paris. To support the series and propose the most immersive experience, Google partnered with Red Bull (also heroing David de Rueda in its Urbex series) to distribute 20,000 Google Cardboards to Vice magazine and Red Bulletin's readers. Shoppers in 15 FNACs stores will also be able to enjoy the ride. #GoogleCuriocité will be further brought to life with real urbex experiences taking place in undiscovered locations in Paris later this month. This episode is the first of a longer series that will feature other cities later this year.
