Build Up

Build Up

Client
The National Building Museum

Location
Washington D.C.

Sector
Public Space
Cultural Experiences

Size
30,000 square feet

Build Up! is a playful, collaborative, interactive installation by the LAB at Rockwell Group for the National Building Museum's 25th Anniversary Honor Award Gala. Build Up! invites guests of the gala to work together to create a virtual cityscape that is projected onto a suspended structure above the gala space. Guests can generate colorful buildings at iPad-embedded pedestals, and then can "push" them up into the projected cityscape. The more buildings that guests add to the city, the more the environment comes to life, adding whimsical dirigibles and generative fireworks to the colorful atmosphere. Build Up! builds off the concepts and technologies that the LAB has been exploring, as well as Rockwell Group's fascination with story-telling, play, and spectacle.

Build Up! uses a completely new software written from the ground up in the LAB. The technology is meant to be transparent in this installation, so the visitors can enjoy a totally user-friendly, celebratory experience. This is the first public implementation of this type of touch screen software that the LAB has been developing over the last two years. The installation is powered by 4 computers with 4 projectors, on the second story of the National Building Museum. The 4 pedestals are embedded with iPads including power. A long-range WiFi router creates a local network (computers are hard-wired or connected wirelessly).