flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

900 North Michigan Shops renovation includes 190-foot-long digital art installation on the ceiling

Shopping Centers

900 North Michigan Shops renovation includes 190-foot-long digital art installation on the ceiling

The installation is visible from all floors and built in 10 different sections.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | November 15, 2017
The digital display showing trees swaying in the breeze at 900 North Michigan Shops
The digital display showing trees swaying in the breeze at 900 North Michigan Shops

It isn’t always easy to bring natural light to the interior of indoor shopping centers. While the recent ESI Design-led renovation of 900 North Michigan Shops on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile didn’t open up the roof directly to the outdoors, it did provide the next best option: a ten section digital installation that mimics the outside sky.

Visible from all floors, the display can show flocks of 3D-animated birds flying overhead, colorful trees sway in a light breeze, or just the brilliant blue sky of a summer afternoon. Some of the content was filmed at 16K resolution with state-of-the-art cameras in order to appear as real as possible on the ultra-high definition LED screens.

The animated birds, Cedar Waxwings to be precise, will never fly the same way twice thanks to incorporated algorithmic rules based on flocking behaviors and the background sunlight and sky will adapt automatically to the current time of day. The ceiling displays can also be used as a showcase for branded content, seasonal content, products, promotions, and special events.

 

 

“The new design that includes a digital canopy is unlike anything that’s ever been installed in a mall,” says Edwin Schlossberg, President and Principal Designer at ESI Design, in a release.

The renovation also includes better signage and wayfinding strategies. Each store’s visibility has been increased due to illuminated signs that feature retailer names and are placed directly in front of each store facing out into the atrium.

A new 37.5-foot-tall bronze threshold entry has also been added. The new entry features a refreshed glass curtain that helps the shopping center stand out on the north end of the Magnificent Mile. The new entry walls are covered with white laminated glass panels that showcase the names of retailers and the ‘900’ brand identity is communicated at the top of the building façade and repeated at the pedestrian eye level below.

 

900 North Michigan Shops before and after the renovation

 

The renovation acts as phase two of a larger renovation project to improve the visitor experience at 900 North Michigan Shops.

 

Flowering trees shown on ESI Design's new digital installation

Related Stories

Airports | Sep 10, 2020

The Weekly show: Curtis Fentress, FAIA, on airport design, and how P3s are keeping university projects alive

The September 10 episode of BD+C's "The Weekly" is available for viewing on demand.

Giants 400 | Aug 28, 2020

2020 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms

The 2020 Giants 400 Report features more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.

Coronavirus | Aug 25, 2020

Video: 5 building sectors to watch amid COVID-19

RCLCO's Brad Hunter reveals the winners and non-winners of the U.S. real estate market during the coronavirus pandemic.

Giants 400 | Oct 24, 2019

Top 80 Retail Construction Firms for 2019

PCL, VCC, Whiting-Turner, Shawmut, and W.E. O'Neil top the rankings of the nation's largest retail sector contractors and construction management firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Giants 400 | Oct 24, 2019

Top 70 Retail Engineering Firms for 2019

Jacobs, Kimley-Horn, Henderson Engineers, and Core States Group head the rankings of the nation's largest retail sector engineering and engineering architecture (EA) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Giants 400 | Oct 24, 2019

Top 125 Retail Architecture Firms for 2019

CallisonRTKL, Gensler, MG2, NELSON, and Stantec top the rankings of the nation's largest retail sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.

Retail Centers | Sep 6, 2019

Another well-known retailer files for bankruptcy: Here's the solution to more empty anchor stores

Where can you find the future of retail? At the intersection of experience and instant gratification. 

Cultural Facilities | Aug 10, 2018

Moviegoers are looking for an ‘intimate experience’

Comfort and service are keys to attracting repeat customers, says an expert whose firm specializes in cinema design.

| May 24, 2018

Accelerate Live! talk: Security and the built environment: Insights from an embassy designer

In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), embassy designer Tom Jacobs explores ways that provide the needed protection while keeping intact the representational and inspirational qualities of a design.

Retail Centers | Sep 26, 2017

DATÜM: Reinventing the department store

Department stores are going through a period of transformation in the face of a rapidly changing retail market. What’s behind the change and where is it leading us?

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category

Mixed-Use

A surging master-planned community in Utah gets its own entertainment district

Since its construction began two decades ago, Daybreak, the 4,100-acre master-planned community in South Jordan, Utah, has been a catalyst and model for regional growth. The latest addition is a 200-acre mixed-use entertainment district that will serve as a walkable and bikeable neighborhood within the community, anchored by a minor-league baseball park and a cinema/entertainment complex.


Retail Centers

Retail design trends: Consumers are looking for wellness in where they shop

Consumers are making lifestyle choices with wellness in mind, which ignites in them a feeling of purpose and a sense of motivation. That’s the conclusion that the architecture and design firm MG2 draws from a survey of 1,182 U.S. adult consumers the firm conducted last December about retail design and what consumers want in healthier shopping experiences.



halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021