In pursuit of its goal to achieve a stronger worldwide awareness of the Ducati brand, the company decided to create a street-level presence in urban centers around the world. The principal objective of the showroom is to create a retail environment that displays the Ducati motorcycle to its best advantage, reinforces the distinctive Ducati brand and captures the dynamic essence of the motorcycle. The design concept, strongly industrial and minimalist in nature, is based on the perception of the motorcycle as an elegant, highly engineered machine.
Five 65-inch bronze plaques interpret the settlement of Minneapolis Gateway District at five periods in history. The Minnesota Historical Society, HOK Architects, McGough Construction, and the Federal Reserve Bank provided input for the project. Gruppo coordinated all participants, interpreted design intent, scale, treatments and methods for completion. The biggest challenge was to focus all groups on a workable plan, then execute the approved plan by coordinating a disparate group of disciplines.
The design team transformed an elementary school's common area into an educational and inspirational tribute to the school's namesake, Major Robert Crawford. With the long dark winters, the design had to be especially bright and uplifting. It needed to tell the story of a significant historical figure with a creative force equal to Crawford's accomplishments, yet be easy to clean, child friendly and durable. To achieve this, the project was interactive with the student body, and incorporates their drawings of "flying creatures of nature."
The Frank G. Wells Building is a five-story office building adjacent to the Main Alameda gate on Disney's Burbank Studio lot. It is a large building designed to be sympathetic with both the low-key Kem Weber buildings that make up the fabric of the campus, and the grand Team Disney Building that it faces. It is laid out as a loft building with standard leasable office depths surrounding an interior courtyard. The modest materials of the base building are replaced by more precious materials at the entry.
"Uniquely Grand, Totally Central" is the slogan for the newly renovated Grand Central Terminal. A crossroads for New Yorkers and visitors alike, the terminal is a major public transportation juncture, a renowned New York landmark and a successful retail destination. Two Twelve created two wayfinding maps for this grand space. With the retail directory, the challenge was to design a map that would highlight all of the Terminal's special features and its rich history.
Caribiner International was challenged with bringing the Home Depot brand, history, business, culture, and community involvement to life in a museum/learning center. The result was a 2,500-square-foot interactive museum divided into five dynamic zones, built entirely of Home Depot materials. Visitors physically travel deeper into the colorful Home Depot experience and brand, even as they learn specifics about the company and its history.
Morla Design created the total brand identity for Levi's Original Spin including logo development, store design, consumer brochures and all point-of-purchase collateral. Designed to appeal to a 15-24 year old audience, Levi's Original Spin is based on the consumer as the creator of their own jeans. Store design and brochure layouts enhance the spirit of individuality with black and white photographs of "personalities" that illustrate the various style options.
This press event for the introduction of the Michael Graves product line for Target was dubbed by the designers "From Pompeii to Pop Art." The theme references one of Michael Graves' decorative collections, which was inspired by an artifact from Pompeii, and a toaster in the collection, representing Pop Art. For the Whitney, Design Guys devised floor plans, technical drawings and a verbal flow chart, which talked through the "experience" of attending the event. The intention was to create more than a static museum show.
With Michael Jordan, restaurateurs Peter and Penny Glazier opened a new restaurant overlooking the main concourse at Grand Central Terminal. A series of screen walls define different areas and mediate between the scale of the terminal and that of the restaurant. A tall curved, wood wall, crowned with a dramatically lit metal leaf cornice, is inspired by the Beaux Arts design of the terminal, and separates the large dining room from a smaller private dining area.
