Hollywood Shadow Project
Project Vision
Completed in October 2001, the Hollywood Shadow Project is a series of seven installations dispersed throughout the production area of Hollywood. The designs are derived from photographs of familiar and iconic movie scenes. At the end of the day, the sun passes through these sculptures and casts shadows on other buildings. The intention is to evoke memory, as it is constituted via photographs and movies, and re-present this memory on the site of its invention: Hollywood. All of the sites incorporate buildings and businesses involved in making movies. It is also significant that the sculpture silhouettes were captured via optical means and are then reprojected here via the sun, which offers both light and motion. The sculptures are steel frames holding up aluminum honeycomb cutout shapes. The honeycomb allows the wind to pass through, easing engineering and safety concerns, while still appearing solid from most angles.
Project Details
A poetic, thoughtful approach to placemaking. A lovely sense of place: California sun, Hollywood fantasy, and local crafts. They all create a special memory in the familiar silhouettes, ghosts of fantasies past. I loved this project the moment I laid eyes on it.
Wow! The ultimate in an environmental graphic solution that takes an inherent component of an outdoor space – shadow – and moves it to a kinetic experience of image and memory.
A true environmental graphic design experience! No words except 'The End.' Just imagery fueled by the sun to create an ever-changing experience within the Hollywood landscape of studios, the hills, and the stars. Brilliant! Truly, truly brilliant!
Design Team
Cameron McNall (Principal in Charge)
Design Firm
Cameron McNall, Architect