How do you help people to connect with the human stories and ideas behind your work?
The Poetic Structure exhibit was an impressive undertaking of miniature proportions, exploring intersections between art, architecture, and engineering in the monumental works of SOM (Willis Tower, Burj Kalifa) within the relatively modest spaces of the 1921 Schindler House in West Hollywood, the first modernist home on the West Coast. As part of this exhibit, SOM recruited me to spearhead a short media campaign to capture these intersections and the spirit of the exhibition.
I looked at this as an opportunity to create an interesting dialogue across time and space between early modernism and current design practice, and to show one of the world’s leading design firms how they can use visual storytelling to help people connect with the intimate human experience behind their designs. Through interviews and a visual approach that highlighted relationships between people and spaces, ideas and materials, we aimed to capture a sense of place and character in their design philosophy and let their thoughts echo throughout the historic setting.
SOM was thrilled with the final products. A member of their internal communications team at their Chicago office told me that they’re “not even close” to being capable of what it is that we were able to do.
Role: Co-Director, Producer
For: Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, LLP
Date: 2018
Type: media campaign
Directed by John Moody & Sue Ding
Cinematography by Garrett Lamb & John Moody
Edited by Patrick Maxwell & John Moody
Sound Design by Colin Yarck
Music by Jonas Lefvert & Lucas Cantor
Short Clips
Poetic Structure: The Exhibition (05:56)
In this video, SOM’s William Baker, Mark Sarkisian, José Luis Palacios, and Alessandro Beghini, and Priscilla Fraser, Director of the MAK Center, share insight on the exhibition and its location in the historic Schindler House in West Hollywood.
Poetic Structure: The Process of Building the Exhibition (04:24)
In this video, SOM’s Eric Long, Dan Koroski, Nicole Wang, and Samantha Walker share insight on the process of creating and installing the exhibition.