Contact:
Sarah Haun
Two Twelve Associates
902 Broadway
New York, NY 10010
212 254 6670
212 254 6614 fx
shaun@twotwelve.com
TWO TWELVE CREATES EXHIBITION GRAPHICS FOR "PLANS IN PROGRESS,"THE LOWER MANHATTAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION'S DISPLAY OF DESIGNS FOR THE WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE
Providing
the Backdrop for the Work of the World's Most Exciting Architects
and Inviting the Public to Comment
New
York, NY, 24 January, 2003
Two Twelve Associates (http://www.twotwelve.com),
a leading graphic design firm that specializes in branding and identity
design, signage and wayfinding, and print and digital communications,
created exhibition graphics for the LMDC's eagerly awaited show of the
nine latest architectural models and plans for rebuilding downtown. Thousands
of people have visited the exhibit currently on display in the World Financial
Center's rebuilt Winter Garden from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM daily through
Sunday, February 2, 2003.
Two Twelve's job was to create durable graphic designs that would attract
public attention to the exhibit, provide a neutral framework for the competing
architectural plans, and most importantly, invite the public to visit
and comment on the proposals. As such, Two Twelve's designs for the show
title, banners, signs and captioning devices are bright but not too tricky
or intrusive, evenly balanced across each of the seven teams' submissions,
and draw particular attention to a comment table where visitors can express
their reactions.
“This is an example of hard-working public information design,”
says Two Twelve principal Ann Harakawa, whose team of designers created
the graphics for the exhibit as well as the LMDC's own logo and newsletters.
“'Plans in Progress' is a historic exhibit, drawing in enormous
crowds of people with widely different agendas. Public comment on the
proposals is playing a fundamental role in shaping the process of rebuilding
downtown, so it is imperative that the graphics do their job very well
-- contribute to a memorable experience, but stay out of the way of the
architects' work."
"Plans in Progress" is announced with a gigantic banner that
spans the glass viewing wall in back of the Winter Garden where visitors
can look out over the WTC site. On the reverse (indoor) side of this banner
are large posters of the architectural renderings created by the competing
firms. This layout makes it easy for visitors to imagine what the architects'
proposals would look like in the actual environment.
The exhibit occupies a ground floor space in the Winter Garden that faces
West Street. It features renderings and models submitted by seven teams
of world-renowned architects: the SOM team, Foster and Partners, Think;
Studio Daniel Libeskind; the Meier-Eisenman-Gwathmey-Siegel-Holl team,
United Architects, and Petersen/Littenberg Architecture & Urban Design.
Each competing submission is represented by the posters facing the WTC
site, by scale models, and in a video display of the designers discussing
their work. Two
Twelve created a system of panels and dividers that frames each proposalwithout
giving precedence to one over the other.
Other elements of the exhibition graphics included the sign and forms on the comment table, as well as large posters at each of the main entrances to the Winter Garden. The primary graphics are rendered in bright orange and blue, not just an eye-catching combination, but a variation on New York City's official colors.
The
architectural submissions represent visions of possibilities for the redevelopment
of lower Manhattan. Using analysis of these programs as a guide, and taking
public commentary on them into account, the LMDC is charged with arriving
at a single master plan for the area.
Two Twelve was selected over several other design firms for the contract
to provide design services to the LMDC's Department of Planning, Design
and Development. Ongoing work includes the design of this exhibit as well
as a range of other communications pertaining to redevelopment and rebuilding
efforts.
The structural design of the "Plans in Progress" exhibit was
developed in collaboration with Whirlwind & Company.
About
Two Twelve Two
Two Twelve Associates (http://www.twotwelve.com)
is a multidisciplinary design company specializing in public information
design, that is, the planning and presentation of complex information
to diverse audiences. David Gibson founded Two Twelve in 1980, and he
and his partner Ann Harakawa presently run the firm's New York-based operation.
Two Twelve offers a full range of services in print, interactive and environmental
graphic design for corporate, institutional and municipal clients nationwide.
Important commissions have included the design of the Census 2000 identity,
forms and canvassing materials; signage for Radio City Music Hall and
Grand Central Terminal; environmental graphics and marketing materials
for NYC2012, New York City’s bid for the 2012 summer Olympic Games;
and promotions, event graphics and a web site for the Downtown River to
River Festival 2002.
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