Skyline

SKYLINE juxtaposes urban imagery and dynamic content to create a visual narrative of the City of Charlotte. It evokes the breath of the city through a welcoming and slowly transforming space.



Sited at the gateway to Uptown Charlotte’s Center City, the integrated artwork spans the new Pedestrian and Light Rail Bridge that connects the Stonewall Station light rail stop to the new wing of the Charlotte Convention Center. Of priority was the site’s importance as a crossroads of diverse activities and demographics. We were mindful that this artwork had to be welcoming and accessible to the many visitors of the Convention Center, engaging to the daily commuter and meaningful to those who live and work in the area.



We soon imagined a dynamic gateway of light and pattern, one that would translate the rhythms of the city itself into an immersive experience and formally pay homage to Charlotte’s iconic skyline.



Along the length of the bridge, patterns in the metal panels recall the architectural facades of Uptown Charlotte. At night, backlighting of the perimeter creates a soft glow visible from the interior of the bridge and the street below.



The Cube, a viewing platform that floats over the streetscape below, is the focal point of the project. Approximately 1,000,000 pixels line its walls and ceiling, upon which the ever-changing rhythms of the city are reimagined as an immersive environment of abstract animations. This digital canvas is integrated into a perforated metal panel system that wraps the interior of the space.



The brain that drives SKYLINE is an AI media server for content generation, processing realtime data within an intelligent timeline that responds to time of day and season. As data informs the rhythms and colors of the artwork, subtle palette shifts and pacing reveal realtime factors to create a fusion of nature and technology. A curated ten minute show plays every evening.



SKYLINE functions as a timekeeper for the city, reinforcing the significance of the Convention Center and the Pedestrian Bridge as a public stage and gateway to Charlotte’s Center City.