Fort Churchill State Historic Park

Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) and Gizmo Art Production, Inc. collaborated as designers and builders with the Nevada Division of State Parks to reimagine the visitor experience at this National Historic Landmark with a deep commitment to lightness. Rather than inserting visible markers or dominant structures, we removed all traces of conventional interpretation. In its place, we developed a system of communication techniques that whisper.

Agency

Practice Area

Client

Nevada Division of State Parks

Industry

The Challenge

Our challenge was to deepen understanding of this site in a manner befitting its natural beauty.

Project Vision

Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) and Gizmo Art Production, Inc. collaborated as designers and builders with the Nevada Division of State Parks to reimagine the visitor experience at this National Historic Landmark with a deep commitment to lightness. Rather than inserting visible markers or dominant structures, we removed all traces of conventional interpretation. In its place, we developed a system of communication techniques that whisper.

Asa Gilmore

Asa Gilmore

Design + Execution

The new interpretation unfolds through calibrated, primarily outdoor, interventions that invite pause and discovery within the landscape. These include benches inscribed with quotations; bronzed objects dispersed across the grounds; illuminated maps tracing converging migration routes; and bilingual audio, including Paiute language. Elements are always low, embedded, and aligned with the visual palette of the place. Site models invite tactile encounter. Poetic overlays of quotations hover lightly against existing walls, revealing historic scenes without reconstructing them. Care was taken not to attach new elements to the ruins, preserving their integrity. Technologies such as bone-conduction audio create intensity for the individual visitor while remaining invisible to the landscape.

Asa Gilmore

Asa Gilmore

Asa Gilmore

Asa Gilmore

Asa Gilmore

  1. Asa Gilmore

  2. Asa Gilmore

  3. Asa Gilmore

  4. Asa Gilmore

  5. Asa Gilmore

Project Details
Even the still image accompanying this entry exudes the mysticism of the building and the site. To truly accomplish more with less—in a “whisper” as you described—is a great accomplishment. Thank you for setting a new bar for subtle power.
Juror 1
Fort Churchill State Historic Park gave us much to talk about. What struck us most was what was not done – there seemed to be such thought given to restraint – this project had the ambition to be invisible with a layer of interpretation that was a ‘whisper’ rather than anything else. The materiality is chosen to support the notion that this should be aged by the weather, naturally. It stood out as a design that felt deeply respectful of the sense of place and the stories it was tasked to tell
Juror 2
Design Team

Nick Appelbaum (principal in charge)
Rick Sobel (creative director)
Andrei Vovk (physical designer)
Jody Neal (content developer)
Mat Mason (visual designer)
Ipek Erdöl (graphic production)

Collaborators

Frame Architecture (architect)

Gizmo Art Production, Inc. (fabrication):
Mark Sabatino
Sequoia Pinterits
Borja Azpilgain
Roger Rasmussen
Wyatt Peck

Nevada Division of State Parks
Scott Egy
Kristin Sanderson

Photo Credits

Asa Gilmore

Open Date

September 2025

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