Vibrant color and Dada-inspired graphics enliven a French performing arts center.
In the ancient French city of Poitiers—known for its medieval architecture and one of the oldest universities in Europe—the new Theatre and Auditorium of Poitiers provides a contemporary contrast. The 345,000-sq.-ft. cube, with its glowing glass façade, enfolds two box-like containers for theater and musical performances.
In a factory the size of a small city, environmental graphics help boost productivity by connecting the people who build aircraft with those who design them.
The Boeing Company’s Everett, Wash., factory is home to the final assembly process for the Boeing 747, 767, 777, and 787 aircraft. It is the largest building in the world by volume (472 million cubic feet) and has a roof area of 12 acres. More than 30,000 employees work at the bustling hub of massive tools and equipment, airplane parts, inventories, office blocks, restaurants, full-size aircraft, and semi trucks.
At the Renzo Piano-designed California Academy of Sciences’ new home, the Islands of Evolution exhibit examines the Academy’s various expeditions and research in the Galápagos and Madagascar with a focus on evolution. Volume Inc. co-opted the scientific specimen box as a method of organizing content and gave it a contemporary spin, allowing for varied and compelling arrangements of different kinds of information.
Green Community was the third in a series of sustainability exhibits at the National Building Museum and the first major exhibition in the United States to explore the complex process of creating and sustaining healthy communities. The exhibition looked at how communities are changing their global impact and explores a variety of sustainable planning strategies such as cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields and grayfields, transit-oriented planning, smart use of natural resources, land conservation, and minimizing waste.
Situated on the plaza to the east of the new Los Angeles Police Administration Building, the Memorial for Fallen Officers is a wall of brass and light that marks a transition between the plaza’s formal and informal spaces. From a distance, the 32-ft.-long, 12-ft.-high memorial appears as a solid wall of lit brass. As visitors approach, it becomes evident that the wall is, in fact, a vast assemblage of precision-cut brass plates with custom-drawn letterforms spelling out the names of 202 LAPD officers killed in the line of duty.
London is a city of complex structures, partly dating back to medieval times, with few long vistas but a multitude of destinations and attractive areas. With more than 27 million visitors a year, walkability is important. It’s well known that London’s “tube map” is one of the best wayfinding diagrams in the world. But the above-ground terrain has been less well served. Surveys conducted in conjunction with the Legible London program showed that more than 40% of people have been using the tube map for walking, too.
Located just north of Times Square, The Official NYC Information Center integrates architecture and media into a seamless experience. The centerpiece of the experience is a bank of three large interactive map tables. By placing a “You are here” disc on the table, visitors can explore the city and create custom guidebooks that can be emailed, sent via SMS, or printed. Visitors can also see their saved places on a large-scale, Google Earth fly-through.
Local Projects (media design), WXY Architecture (architecture)
