Project Details
- Project Name
- West Hollywood Belltower
- Location
- CA
- Architect
- Tom Wiscombe Architecture
- Client/Owner
- City of West Hollywood
- Project Types
- Cultural
- Awards
- 2017 AIA|LA Next LA Awards
- Shared by
- Hanley Wood Media
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
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 Archetypes
In contrast to the ubiquitous flat, horizontal billboards of the Sunset Strip, the Belltower 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 Belltower 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.
On its diamond-like outer petals, the Belltower allows for a combination of commercial media, cultural event feeds—such as the recent Elton John and Lady Gaga appearance at Tower Records. Branding and news for the City of West Hollywood, along with video art interventions curated by our partner—the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA)—activate the Sunset Strip. 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. Made of perforated metal, the outer petals feature a combination of embedded high-resolution LED technology, video projections, and theatrical lighting that allow for flexibility in programming across the day, month, and year.
The Inner World
The interior space of the Belltower engages the public imagination. It contains a nested sculptural object programmed with interactive and trending social 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 alter patterns of light pulled from the deep web, or ‘pushing’ digitally altered media content onto its surfaces.
Public Space / Digital Space
The Belltower 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 Belltower can serve as a live-feed backdrop. Sitting-steps, site lighting, and drought-tolerant landscaping 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.