4x4 | Permanent Lobby Installation
74M Building | Somerville, MASSACHUSETTS
4X4 is a four part sculpture of freestanding pylons that reflect the world in their mirrored surface by day, and glow with vibrant animated light by night.
Each of the four vertical pylons are precisely positioned to create an immersive environment across the south side of the 74 Middlesex lobby. 74M is a new construction LEED platinum and WELL platinum certified building, designed specifically for tenants who work in the life sciences.
Each pylon features four digital screens, three of which are concealed behind highly reflective mirrored surfaces. The surfaces reflect the surrounding beauty, both the dramatic architectural interior of 74M as well as the natural greenery from the adjacent parklet. As lighting conditions shift from day to night, the installation transforms into an illuminated artwork of glowing colorful lights. This is our favorite kind of project, where we can engage both our artistic process and architectural sensibilities.
The digital artwork is inspired by the building’s sustainability performance metrics. It features extremely saturated colors and carefully crafted shapes that gently travel across the four vertical screens and traverse between the four structures. Each piece of video content is inspired by the building’s functionality each day. All LEED certified projects are equipped with sensors that measure and share whole building data including energy usage, air quality and water efficiency, as well as human experience. The artist team at Studio HHH has studied the buildings data out-puts, including shifts in air quality levels and temperature changes throughout the day. The data from these live feeds will be blended with other building and environmental metrics to generate a visual language, with the end result being a series of unexpected and beautiful moving compositions of light.
This multipurpose installation has the capacity to also share the digital canvas with practical essentials for the building occupants, such as transit information and tenant announcements. These rotating digital signage and info graphics are intended to change with the evolution of the buildings over time.
Concept and Design: Vanessa Till Hooper
Digital Content Creation: Emily Castro
Fabrication, Installation, and Project Management: Design Communications LTD
Photos by: Studio HHH