Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century
As part of Washington, DC’s citywide Shakespeare Festival, the National Building Museum presented Reinventing the Globe: A Shakespearean Theater for the 21st Century, an exhibition conceived to encourage a reconsideration of the spaces designed to accommodate dramatic performances.
Mounted at the Center for Architecture, this exhibition focuses on eight projects in New York by six contemporary location photographers in the Esto collaborative. Over 100 images are projected, slideshow-style, onto a screen-sized blank space that has been knocked out of the exhibition's title. In keeping with the travelogue theme, commentary from the participating photographers and architects appears on the walls. The projects are numbered and keyed to the quotes and a small map of the metropolitan area.
Universally recognized graphic symbols, such as those used to delineate parking spaces and other facilities for individuals who are physically handicapped, can be an effective tool for communicating important information to individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The aim of this project was to design a set of graphic symbols that would be easily understood and, ultimately could be universally recognized for use in health care environments to aid LEP visitors.
San-Ai Clinic is a rehabiliation facility that recently undertook a renovation and expansion, almost doubling its usable space for rehabilitation activities.
Purposely designed free of elaborate appointments, the space features open spaces, high ceilings, and no partitions—creating a modern, friendly environment. The space is divided into 12 functional areas and patient therapy is not limited to any one space; patients can move from area to area in circuit-training fashion.
The Cathedral of Christ the Light celebrates the liturgical traditions of the Catholic faith through the vocabulary of 21st century design and technology. Located in downtown Oakland, Calif., the 226,000-sq.-ft. cathedral complex was designed to offer a sense of solace, spiritual renewal, and respite from the secular world.
Dublin Airport’s new 15,000-sm Pier D has 12 boarding gates and can accommodate up to 10 million passengers per year.
To create visual diversions for passengers, project architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill also worked with the airport on an environmental graphics program featuring mural-sized portraits honoring Ireland’s literary giants. Fully integrated with the interior concept, the graphics help distinguish the gates while responding to the elongated circulation space with a design that seems to change when viewed from various distances.
When an 18th century Portuguese chapel was reopened as an art gallery, the owners and R2 Design (Porto, Portugal) used its façade as the canvas for an artful typographic composition that recalls the building’s former use, but creates a new cultural venue.
China is known neither for its environmental consciousness nor for the beauty of its digital media installations. But a new media façade at the Xicui Entertainment Center is a first step toward turning those impressions around.
The Museum of Arts and Design in New York collects and presents contemporary and historic innovations in craft, art, and design. The museum opened its new home at Two Columbus Circle in September 2008. As part of the museum's relocation, MAD commissioned Pentagram to create static and dynamic interior and exterior signage and wayfinding as well as a suite of interactive interpretive media for the galleries.
With the opening of the new Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in April 2008, Washington has a new seven-level, 250,000-sq.-ft. museum dedicated to educating visitors about the importance of a free press in safeguarding our First Amendment rights.