Banff Centre was faced with a very unusual problem. Thousands of conference guests, program attendees and visitors from all around the globe arrive at the Centre every year, but most of those people would leave without having learned anything about this world-class incubator for the arts.
I proposed the development of an interactive timeline experience that would allow visitors to not only learn about this rich history, but to share what they learned. The experience was to feature significant moments and personalities, each of which would be explored further through location-activated beacons which would automatically connect users to a banffcentre.ca webpage featuring in-depth, rich content which users would be able to share using social media. By connecting the experience directly to the website, an additional benefit would be tracking usage of the installation through Google Analytics.
Respect for Indigenous culture is a cornerstone of the Centre’s outlook. The facilities are built on Sleeping Buffalo Mountain in Banff – an historically important location for many of Alberta’s Indigenous Peoples.
“In indigenous contexts, geospatial technologies have often been depicted as failing to take into consideration non-Western models of space and time.”
With that in mind, and based on conversations with the Arts and Indigenous Leadership departments, I added two important elements to the concept:
- The visual design would become non-linear in nature, paying homage in a simple way to the Indigenous conception of time.
- I explored using perforated metallic outdoor installation elements, in an effort to more directly tie the experience to the surroundings, and blur the line between indoor and outdoor – even going so far as to source weather-proof beacons.
Ultimately the project was sidelined due to an inability for departments to agree on exactly which figures and moments should be included. Nonetheless, the proposal remains something I am extremely proud of, as it blends together a number of disciplines, objectives, cultures and technologies in a way that elevates the physical and digital experience of the organization in a measurable and tangible way.