World Heritage Center

The World Heritage Center (WHC) in San Antonio serves as a gateway to understanding and experiencing the city’s historic missions—sites that remain Living Legacies of culture, community, and connection. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, the missions are not relics of the past but dynamic spaces where history continues to unfold. Designed to ignite curiosity and immerse visitors in their ongoing cultural significance, the WHC bridges past and present.

Agency

G&A

Practice Area

Client

World Heritage Office, City of San Antonio

Industry

Nestled within a vibrant district on the city’s south side, the WHC lies at the center of a series of community-focused buildings including a public library, outdoor theater, performance space, and YMCA. The WHC is more than an interpretive center. It is a gathering place for dialogue and engagement, offering a deeper understanding of the missions’ enduring relevance. The project was envisioned to highlight their historical significance while honoring the lived experiences of the local Hispanic and Indigenous communities.

The Challenge

One of the project’s greatest challenges was maintaining authenticity while crafting an engaging visitor experience. Rather than attempting to literally recreate elements from the missions, the design team sought to evoke their essence but reinterpret it in a modern way. Visually, the exhibition’s color palette is anchored by neutral, earthy tones and accentuated by  rich color hue accents found in Mexican and Indigenous traditional crafts.

The building’s bold, light-filled architecture became both a feature and an obstacle, as daylight spill into the galleries prohibited the display of many real, yet fragile UV-sensitive artifacts. To address this, the designers worked with staff and community members to create 3D scans of artifacts from both the missions and the descendent families, and then translated them into large-scale reactive LED digital displays. As visitors approach, the rotating objects respond, revealing layered narratives that bring history to life.

Project Vision

The design team set out to balance authenticity with modern storytelling, foster personal connections to history, and ensure that community voices were central to the project’s development. A guiding principle is the theme of Corazón—the Spanish word for “heart.” It ensures that personal and familial narratives take center stage. The missions are not simply historic sites; they are spaces infused with love, resilience, and continuity across generations. Through bilingual storytelling in Spanish and English, the WHC offers an inclusive, layered experience that elevates the voices of Mission Descendants, inviting visitors to connect with history in an immediate and personal way.

Corazón gallery with view of Evocative Objects reactive display

Greencard Productions

Corazón gallery with view of Evocative Objects reactive display

Greencard Productions

Design + Execution

Bridging the past with the present was another key design challenge.  Inspired by quatrefoil motifs and frescos found at the missions, the designers created custom vector art patternwork which integrated into several of the exhibition’s physical, graphic and digital displays. Portals to the Missions, a large-scale LED installation designed as a media triptych, transports visitors directly into the heart of mission life. This digital gateway cycles through several chapters, taking us above and within the mission walls, into public performances and rituals of family life, and Catholic ceremonies within the chapel walls. The installation reinforces the San Antonio missions as living, breathing spaces rather than distant historical landmarks. It fosters a deeper appreciation of these historic sites and encourages exploration beyond the center’s walls.

Living Legacies booth with custom, quatrefoil-inspired pattern work + map of mission communities

Greencard Productions

Mulit-generational descendent family within Living Legacies booth

Greencard Productions

Build a drum using physical Evocative Objects reactive display, with proximity-triggered, bilingual content

Greencard Productions

Shared Stories oral-history listening booth and artwork by local artists+artisans

Greencard Productions

Interior detail of Shared Stories booth with wall niche display and acoustic lining

Greencard Productions

Greencard Productions

  1. Portals to the Missions LED display as seen from WHC building exterior

    Greencard Productions

  2. Corazón gallery with view of Evocative Objects reactive display

    Greencard Productions

  3. Corazón gallery with with Portals to the Missions LED display a left

    Greencard Productions

  4. Living Legacies booth with custom, quatrefoil-inspired pattern work + map of mission communities

    Greencard Productions

  5. Evocative Objects reactive display, with proximity-triggered, bilingual content

    Greencard Productions

  6. Shared Stories oral-history listening booth and artwork by local artists+artisans

    Greencard Productions

Project Details
The heartfelt warmth that courses through this project is compelling. The embedded role of the community in its conception and realization is evident in every aspect of the visitor experience.
Juror 1
The building and exhibits come together harmoniously to create a compelling narrative that is both immediate and accessible.
Juror 2
Design Team

Carl Rhodes (creative director)
MJ Wotton (senior integrated producer)
Eric EInhorn (integrated producer)
Katie Mancher (senior graphic designer)
Vibha Agarwala (senior exhibit designer)
Viniyata Pany (ux director)
Rachel Burke (senior fabrication detailer)
Vanessa Patchet (director of film)
Noelle Palumbo (film producer)
Tom Byrne (lead av hardware designer)
Sydney Rhodes (coordination manager)

Collaborators

Alta Architects (architect)
Studio Practice (physical fabrication firm)
Blue Telescope (interactive media)
VideoBred (linear media)
BBI (av Integration)
The Mission Descendant Communities of San Antonio

Photo Credits

G&A, Greencard Pictures (photography, videography)

Open Date

December 2024

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