Environmental Design for Union Station: History Projection

The first project of the brand design special topic class in this semester was to do a environmental design for Union Station.

Requirement:

The hopes are to create a draw for more customers and sightseers as well as boost its reputation as a leading transit hub as well as being an example of great design and a fantastic brand experience. Union Station is open to ideas, that employ, graphic adornment, technology, projection or screen implementation as well other physical ideas that may improve the Union Station visit experience.

Union Station areas of interest:

History; Location; Modernity; Transit; Art; Cuisine; Community

As a foreigner, I didn't really know about Denver Union Station or even the culture of Denver that much. So, I did some research about Union Station and found the history part of it was quite interesting and giving this place more value than just a transit and entertainment center. However, I felt like Union Station was not really putting much effort in using their historical source except having that iconic main building remain the historical outside look. Therefore, I decided to go with the history theme.

Based on the research, Denver Union Station has a long history since 1881. According to the major iconic things happened, its history could be divided into 4 stages.

19th Century: Denver Union Station was first built in 1881. And a fire started in the woman restroom destroyed a huge part of the building, so it got rebuilt in 1894.

Early 20th Century: the iconic “Mizpah” arch was built in 1906. And rebuilt in the Beaux-Arts style in 1914.

Late 20th Century: with the automobiles, airlines coming up, Denver Union Station was going through a declining period. In 1953, it put on the “Travel by Train” trying to gain back the customers but failed.

21st Century: the renovation period, it was rebuilt as the “Denver’s Living Room”, becoming the center of shop, dine, transit, hotel, relaxation.

My idea was to tell about this 4 iconic history stages in an interesting way. Not reading a book or watching a long documentary film, an environmental design that lets people know its history, in the mean while, could become an attraction to more visitors itself.

Then I thought of the idea to project the historical infographics on to the moving train, giving visitors a little surprise when waiting for the train, and drawing people’s attention to actually see the graphic and know the history.

Based on the history stages, I designed 4 infographic projection pieces in the style of combining the old black and white picture and the bright shapes and bold fonts.

And here are the mockups of the projection on the real train.