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|  R+P's design recounts 100 years of history and brings a feeling of warmth to a modern environment On May 22, 2010, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa reopened to celebrate its 100th anniversary and showcase its recent makeover. A key part of the renovation was the construction of a Lantern glass tower. Reich+Petch Design International was selected to create a series of graphic panels for the Lantern glass tower. The panels tell the story of the 100-year-old historic building and recognize the generous contributions of donors. The intent of the design was to “warm up” the contemporary tower, making it more inviting for visitors. The Art Director of the project, Edmund Li R.G.D., explained that R+P wanted to “create a stylized graphic forest, keeping with the theme of the nature museum.” The designers incorporated silhouette cutouts of branches, birds and animals with the modular donor plaques, which simulate tree trunks. These were carefully layered in front of a silhouetted tree background in order to create a semi-three dimensional design. Edmund explained that he and his team struggled to create the donor recognition panels. As he said, it was important that “the five categories of donation (with varying numbers of donor names) appear visually balanced.” To complicate matters, the modular system had to be able to detach in order to update donor names. Despite the challenges R+P faced, the work paid off. According to the museum’s Design Manager, Laura Rhodes, “The building is turning out to be quite photogenic!” To see a 360° image of the Lantern glass tower and R+P’s graphic panels, go to http://arty-lee.blogspot.com/2010/05/canadian-museum-of-nature_27.html   | |
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