Project Commissioner

China Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd

Project Creator

Sencity Corporation

Project Overview

Sencity enables people to experience the future of urban life through interactive technology, creativity and art. With the goal of the injecting public happiness and the re-vitalisation of hope in a post-covid-lockdown Shanghai, Sencity has partnered with Jingmao to redesign one of its most prominent lobby space content within the Shanghai Jinmao Tower.

Team

Sencity, a Sydney based interactive experience company is reimagining connected public spaces. Sencity provides new outlets for information, entertainment, and experience, Sencity is changing the way we think about responsibility, and imbuing the urban environment with moments of joy. Sencity has witnessed a series of collaborations with the fashion, art, and technology industries, with successful projects across the world.

Project Brief

The entire city of Shanghai has been under continuous lockdown due to Covid-19 for 2 months. At the end of the lockdown, Jingmao has approached Sencity to design and develop a custom “Hope” themed content for its lobby space. The “Spark of Hope” is an interactive content piece that depicts a three-dimensional, forced perspective cube-like object which constantly rotates around multiple axis’s and morphs according to the demographics of nearby visitors. This piece is also powered via the SencityOS, designed for public spaces.

Project Innovation/Need

The “Spark of Hope” symbolises itself as the beating mechanical heart of Shanghai. Pedestrians who travel past the cube turns into "sparks" which fuel the unending beating rhythm of the Cube. The content employs the technique of Anamorphic Illusion (forced perspective) to depict the heart, it also allows for stunning and realistic content to be shown on a flat surface. The interactivity is enabled by the use of an array of high-definition optical sensors which are connected to and driven by a SenBOX interactive media controller. The “Spark of Hope” is to serve as a message and as a reminder for the Shanghai citizens to not lose hope after staying in home for weeks, and to re-embrace life as optimistically as possible.

Design Challenge

The main challenge was to kick-off the entire project remotely and to figure out a way to promote the notion of "Hope" without being too explicit in a post-covid public space. Sencity designers have worked with numerous Jingmao managers to brainstorm the idea of the Spark (the intense feeling of connection), drawing influence from modern day pop-culture, traditional Chinese culture and the newly introduced post-covid culture.

Future Impact

This interactive piece also embodies Jinmao’s focus on developing high-quality, multi-cultural spaces as well as its mission to continuously empower public spaces with the use of people power and cutting-edge technology. The cube, when engulfed with green light, also represents the ever expanding goal of reaching zero carbon neutrality internationally by Jinmao. Jinmao Tower, an avant-garde smart commercial building, also calls for scientific and technological innovation to promote carbon neutrality, calling for the coexistence of technological innovation and low-carbon emission reduction solutions.