Architect Zaha Hadid famously said, "There are 360 degrees, so why stick to one?" When it came to designing its exhibit for the American Institute of Architects show (AIA) in Chicago, Kawneer North America, an Alcoa Inc. company, couldn't have agreed more. In fact, the architectural products and systems manufacturer worked with Tucker, GA-based Exhibitus Inc. to custom build a booth whose uber-curvaceous components were modeled after Hadid's award-winning, serpentine structures.
The resulting exhibit featured multiple eye-catching, Hadid-style flourishes. Everything from the sweeping 46-foot-long boomerang-shaped overhead canopy to the 14-foot-high central tower was painstakingly crafted, incorporating custom wooden ribbing to support curved, white laminated panels.
Inside the exhibit, visitors learned how the product sets of three sister brands – Kawneer, Traco, and Reynobond/Reynolux – worked together. Attendees followed the two-toned charcoal and taupe carpet inlay, which mirrored the curve of the 12-foot-high canopy, and found themselves amid Kawneer's many offerings contained in an interactive segment of the exhibit. Five kiosks presented cutaways of products, such as a slice of Kawneer's new 1620/1620 SSG curtain wall system, and each kiosk displayed a tablet loaded with the full range of available products, which attendees were free to peruse.
The exhibit's real tour de force was a 10-by-12-foot video wall comprising nine 46-inch screens. Using a tablet loaded with an app created especially for this segment of the exhibit, attendees created architectural plans using Kawneer, Traco, and Reynobond/Reynolux products. Their inventive ideas were projected onto the video wall for all to see, showcasing the company's products in various applications. After the show, Kawneer emailed the plans to attendees as both a memento and a personalized sample of what's possible when Kawneer's products pair with those of its sister brands.
