Geode at Ally Charlotte Center: A Living Data-Driven Artwork for the City of Charlotte – CODAworx

Geode at Ally Charlotte Center: A Living Data-Driven Artwork for the City of Charlotte

Client: Ally Charlotte Center by Crescent Communities LLC

Location: Charlotte, NC, United States

Completion date: 2021

Project Team

Architect

Garrett Herbst

Little Interior

Director of Design

Amy Bezanson

Crescent Communities

Design

Josh VanBlankenship and Team

StandardVision

Creative Direction

Isaiah Montoya and Team

StandardVision

Data-Visualization Animation

Nathan Specht and Team

StandardVision

Contractor

Brasfield Gorrie

Brasfield Gorrie

Overview

StandardVision was commissioned to create new permanent data-driven artwork for Ally Charlotte Center by Crescent Communities. The engaging, site-specific animation translates demographic, cultural, environmental, and geographic data about the city into digital art, forming a narrative between the recently completed building, its forward-thinking designers and developers, and the local region of Charlotte, NC. Geode is a unique lenticular art piece consisting of 32 custom high-resolution LED digital panel columns—16 on each side of the lobby—connected overhead with a series of linear colored lights. The alternating orientations of these angled digital panels create a subtle, mesmerizing, two-way viewing experience that evolves based on the viewer’s angle, perspective, and elapsed time. The installation serves to unify the broader community, paving the way for future-forward concepts as the city experiences growth and enrichment, honoring natural landscapes and the Charlotte community.

Goals

Geode leverages meaningful local data which subtly speaks to a progressive and inspiring outlook on the quality of life in Charlotte, NC. The colors selected are intended to both complement their corresponding datasets on a conceptual level and create an overall harmonious palette of evergreen content. Expanding the possibilities of holistic design concepts, StandardVision and Crescent Communities were able to demonstrate how Charlotte city databases can create a contextual and relevant centerpiece of constantly transforming beauty for tenants and visitors alike.

Process

The vision for Geode was inspired by the history and context of the development’s site. The land Ally Charlotte Center stands on today was once a quarry for the City Rock Crushing Company in the early 1900s. The site’s geologic features and past uses inspired the overall design of the building, including the precast concrete exoskeleton grid that wraps the tower’s glass façade. The building’s lobby, the hollow cavity within the rock, includes a pristine central white box lined with the jewel-like digital artwork, an array of vertical digital canvases that feature constantly evolving data-driven art.