Artistic, interactive construction signage at Yale Schwarzman Center exterior offers glimpse of what’s to come

Temporary installation serves as a way-finder to newly launched website and now-open Rotunda.

Leveraging the interactive capacities of design and technology, the Yale Schwarzman Center (YSC) has unveiled the transformation of traditional construction signage, or hoarding, into a creative and visually engaging installation. Located just outside of Commons by the Beinecke Plaza, the striking 439-foot piece features renderings of a few signature performance spaces within the Center, including Commons dining hall, a bistro-styled eatery on the Center’s new lower level, and the renovated Dome. The aesthetic distinctly mimics the colorblock theme of the YSC’s newly launched website, reiterating the Center’s core values—Collaboration, Wellness & Belonging—by displaying the words “Collaborate,” “Eat,” “Experience,” and “Meet.” Passersby can engage with the installation through scannable QR codes on the signage, which direct audiences to the YSC’s new website on their mobile devices.

Maurice Harris, director of marketing and communications at the YSC, explains that the hoarding serves to update the public and build excitement on campus around the anticipated opening of the Center’s new and refurbished spaces. “Simultaneously,” he states, “the hoarding directs audiences to the YSC’s new website, a digital hub for the arts and collaboration in a time of physical distance.”

Yale University’s associate construction project manager, Mike Gibbons, noted, “The hoarding informs the community that the Rotunda is now open to foot traffic, and that people are once again welcome to pass through and take in the beauty of the freshly lit Memorial Hall.”

Both the visual layout of the hoarding and the website were conceived by New York graphic design consultancy Fay Design. The hoarding was produced by FenceScreen and installed by Dimeo Construction. It is now open and accessible for public viewing on campus.

About the YSC

Now in development, the YSC will be transformational for Yale in providing, for the first time, a center for student life and the arts at the historic heart of the Yale University campus. In advance of its projected 2021 opening, the YSC is engaging in digital programs and collaborative arts experiences geared toward audiences within and beyond the Yale campus.