Archinect - News

NBBJ has acquired ESI Design, an innovative experience design studio

2020-02-06T14:09:00-05:00

International architecture and design firm NBBJ announced today that it has acquired experience design studio ESI Design. In joining one another, NBBJ and ESI Design will be able to capitalize on their multidisciplinary team to introduce digital experiences earlier in the design process, giving clients a more streamlined service offering.

"By integrating the design of architecture and dynamic digital experiences, we will create boundless opportunities to energize the places we live, work, and play to stimulate our senses and inspire discovery, learning, and impact," said Steve McConnell, FAIA, Managing Partner of NBBJ in a statement. "The acquisition of ESI Design brings this vision to life and increases NBBJ’s ability to serve our clients as they activate their brands, create community, inspire wellbeing, and thrive."

Founder and Principal Designer at ESI Design Edwin Schlossberg also said: "We are at an exciting moment in time where the diverse skillsets of digital designers, med...

This office lobby in Boston immerses visitors in a motion-activated virtual aquarium

2020-02-03T11:13:00-05:00

The lobby of an Art Deco office building in Boston has been transformed into an immersice digital experience that reacts to users' movements. Unreal Engine, the gaming engine behind Fortnite, Playstation, and many other gaming products, powers the ESI Design-created interactive mural and uses sensors to converse with building goers.

Lobby. © LasSalle Investment Management

The array of experiences shift throughout the day, from an aquarium with groups of active fish to exterior landscapes. The digital installation also features silhouettes of people walking and waving to building users, further activating the space.

The digital mural is 84 feet long and 7 feet high, contains a total of 590 square feet of LED displays, and both the interior and exterior portions of the display can engage with users in the lobby and pedestrians outside of it.

See inside the Statue of Liberty’s new museum ahead of this week’s opening

2019-05-14T12:56:00-04:00

The Statue of Liberty is a universally recognized structure and symbol. But do most people know the story of its creation? Opening this Thursday, the new Statue of Liberty Museum aims to educate visitors about the history and legacy of the statue through immersive gallery spaces and artifacts. During a press preview last week, 6sqft toured the 26,000-square-foot museum and its landscaped roof, located on Liberty Island across from Lady Liberty herself.

All photos by James and Karla Murray exclusively for 6sqft.