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JCDecaux has taken the wraps off a unique piece of out-of-home inventory in London designed by Zaha Hadid Design.
The agency briefed the agency to redefine 'the design language of billboards'. It ditched the conventional shapes and frames that have steered the industry to date. Dubbed 'The Kensington', and located on the road from London to Heathrow, the structure takes the shape of a curved double-ribbon.
— thedrum.com
Zaha Hadid Architects has created a new design for street advertising with JCDecaux Group, a multinational corporation known for its bus-stop advertising systems and billboards. Creating a sculptural advertising approach, the firm's design reinvents the classic billboard into public art. Brands... View full entry
It is true that the developers of Europe’s largest regeneration project don’t appear to do ordinary. But they don’t seem to do many black people either...Speak to any property-marketing agency and they will tell you their east-Asian clients are buying a piece of England, which – for them – means blond-haired, blue-eyed Burberry models. — The Guardian
In a particularly taut and enjoyable piece for the Guardian, Oliver Wainwright investigates the questionable marketing tactics behind a starchitect-studded project in England that is catering mainly to East Asian buyers, among several other structures being sold primarily to off-shore clients. Are... View full entry
Although Los Angeles has had its battles over supergraphics—those painted on advertisements that often stretch multiple stories on a building's facade—the billboard as a concept has received substantially less attention, unless the provocative imagery on it causes fender benders. However, Tom... View full entry
If someone told you today that a new, brightly lit neon sign was going up across the street from where you live, you might react with disgust at the thought of such a commercial eyesore invading the skyline of your community. Yet when some older sign or billboard is threatened, everyone is suddenly up in arms, rushing to its defense. How does something as mundane as outdoor advertising grow to become considered an essential piece of the urban fabric? — Consumerist
“They become landmarks, loved because they have been visible at certain street corners — or from many vantage points across the city — for a long time,” writes Michael J. Auer in the brief. “Such signs are valued for their familiarity, their beauty, their humor, their size, or even their... View full entry
In 2007, [São Paulo] Mayor Gilberto Kassab implemented the Clean City Law, labelling outdoor adverts a form of “visual pollution”. In a single year, the city removed 15,000 billboards and 300,000 oversized storefront signs. [...]
The ubiquity of outdoor advertising means that we have come to take it for granted; accepting both its presence and its purpose as natural features of the urban environment.
— theguardian.com
Previously on Archinect: Rethinking Billboards as homeless shelters, and as land art projects in Art + Architecture: The Los Angeles Nomadic Division Sets Up Camp. View full entry
By switching off the floodlighting we want to make those on the march stop and think. It is a challenge: consider who you are marching alongside. — theguardian
Cologne cathedral to switch off lights in protest at anti-Muslim march.Two strong reads are possible, one with the actual intent of the official response to racist march to show church's disapproval, the other is more involuntary, perhaps recalling the core of the situation as the idea of crusades... View full entry
Ricketts got most of what he wanted. Alderman Tunney was again involved in the negotiations and he said the mayor’s office essentially decided that “one of the most generous sign packages ever” was a reasonable trade-off for the Rickettses’ willingness to spend their own money. He added ruefully: “There will be advertisements coming out of everywhere. We will have our own little Times Square right here at the corner of Clark and Addison.” — NYT
Barry Bearak digs into the Ricketts family, the Cubs and future plans for Wrigley Field. From the "cursed" record of the franchise, to legal battles with the owners of adjacent rooftops, the family faces numerous challenges in turning around their investment. Though the ballpark may soon... View full entry
When Alfredo Jaar’s glittering “A Logo for America” video first played on a Times Square billboard in 1987, it riled up New Yorkers. [...] shows the words “This is not America” inside the outline of the United States. “A Logo for America” will receive a second life this week; beginning on August 1, the video will pop up on Times Square signs and screens between 11:57 pm and 12:00 am. But this 2.0 version loses some of the video’s original intent to reach a broad—and hopefully attentive—audience. — artfcity.com
Billboards are commanding territory all over the world, offering just a blaring message in their occupation. Some designers have been looking at how to better use this advertising infrastructure, with Slovakia’s Designdevelop proposing a use for the space as small-scale residences for the homeless. — Hyperallergic
