#Belltowerbillboardproject #SunsetBlvd #SunsetStrip #WestHollywood
The history of the American billboard tracks the larger cultural and technological history of media distribution and aesthetic sensibilities. In the early 20th century, the billboard began as a large sign or three-dimensional icon, often calling attention to immediate building functions or domestic products. With the mid-century explosion of car culture and the film industry, the billboard was transformed into something non-local—something representing filmic worlds, in wide-screen formats. Sunset Boulevard has played a distinct role in the evolution of the billboard, particularly in the 60’s and 70’s, with edgy content, protruding elements, and promotional appearances by music stars. Eventually, the two-dimensionality of the billboard moved towards three-dimensionality, existing simultaneously as sign and object. This proposal builds on this historic legacy in a contemporary way with an iconic, object-billboard programmed with an unprecedented breadth of commercial, cultural, and interactive media content.
Deep Urban Archetype
In contrast to the ubiquitous flat, horizontal billboards of the Sunset Strip, the Sunset Spectacular is oriented vertically. It avoids the typological “sign-on-a-stick” billboard in favor of something spatial and interactive. Akin to ancient bell-towers, clock-towers, and obelisks, the Sunset Spectacular operates as a deep urban archetype associated with civic space and community engagement. It expresses the contemporary transition from an era of centrally-controlled media empires to a time of great diversity in marketing strategies and stakeholders. It speaks to a world where commercial and cultural content can be hybridized and media is no longer a just a way of advertising, but a way of life.
Art
On its diamond-like outer petals, the Sunset Spectacular allows for a combination of commercial media and cultural media events. The Sunset Spectacular will feature site-specific art from artists curated by MOCA and local curators, together with the West Hollywood Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission with a goal of engaging the community with important art of our time. This diverse range of content will be composed into a serene, and sometimes surprising, experience that is woven into the everyday life of local residents and visitors. Made of perforated metal, the east and west-facing outer petals feature embedded high-resolution LED technology, featuring a rich program of multimedia art integrated in sustained blocks into the commercial advertising programming.
The Inner World
The interior space of the Sunset Spectacular engages the public imagination. It contains a nested sculptural object programmed with multi-media art and interactive media. This object is primarily intended to engage the pedestrian scale and can only be glimpsed briefly by passing drivers. Pedestrians can interact with the interior object directly via apps on their smartphones to pull information on the artwork or to push digitally altered media content onto its surfaces.
Public Space / Digital Space
The Sunset Spectacular is linked to the City of West Hollywood through an inviting public square where pedestrians meet, relax, and play. When the square is used for cultural events, the Sunset Spectacular can serve as a live-feed backdrop. Drought-tolerant landscaping and festive lanterns connect the public square to the local environment and provide an integrated social experience.
Ultimately, the significance of this project is to simultaneously exist in two realms: the local physical space of the Sunset Strip and the global digital space of social media. Potentially the most “Instagrammable” billboard, this project will actively share the uniqueness and creativity of West Hollywood with the world.
Client: City of West Hollywood
Builder/ Operator: Orange Barrel Media
Architect: Tom Wiscombe Architecture
Museum Partner: MOCA
Structural: Walter P Moore
Media Technology: ReThink! / Electrosonic
Cost Estimating: MGAC
Rendering: Kilograph (Image 1)
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