Pop Art Gallery
The Brief
Airside (partnered with mae Architects) won a six way pitch to design the identity and interior for Wolverhampton Art Gallery's new gallery devoted to Pop Art. The gallery wanted to target 16-21 year olds and our brief was to make the gallery a space that would not only house one of the UK's most comprehensive collections of Pop Art, but would simply be a place they would want to spend time in.Reflecting the differing audiences the gallery would have to address, the identity needed to work across all media, from printed literature to t-shirts, and moving image.
Our Solution
Through a series of engaging challenges and entertaining games, gallery visitors are immersed in themes expressed by Pop Art. The interactives, which include a dressing-up area, a giant pop art puzzle and a digital 'Warholiser', were designed to invite visitors to actively participate in the exhibition and by doing so gain a clearer understanding of the Pop Art movement as a whole. Rather than having volumes of text to read, a life-sized projection of an Andy Warhol look-alike appears at regular intervals to explain and interpret his own work.The space was designed to be white and minimal, restricted to black and white furnishings to give the gallery a clean modern look. However the minimal layout can be easily altered, as coloured lighting, both under-seat and spot, can be used to colour the space allowing the gallery to convey whatever mood they need.
To encourage the target audience to adopt the space as their own the specially designed couches were strategically placed to encourage visitors to linger, allowing them to 'own' their space and view the work at leisure.
The gallery's interior was also designed to accommodate a regularly changing space, its furniture and walls containing many hidden recesses to store display cases and plinths when necessary.