Parking Space

Unexpected and almost entirely at odds with the other events surrounding the New York International Auto Show, Smart Car's book launch last Wednesday turned the 52nd floor of 7 World Trade Center into a parking lot/art installation with plastic wrap, plywood, foil, white vinyl, and fluorescent blue light. This offbeat approach to debut Sideways, a Smart Art Project was intended to attract and entertain a mixed crowd of auto, fashion, and art press, as well as promote the concept that the car brand is constantly looking to challenge conventional ideas.

At the center of the late-night party—produced by Black Frame and designed by architectural firm Lot-Ek—was the artwork from the book, a collection of illustrations, graphic designs, and photographs curated by 11 international magazines. To showcase the images, the production crew built custom displays and (unlike previous events held in the space) utilized all four sides of the venue by placing back-of-house staff and equipment within a structure in the middle of the space. A continuous, floor-to-ceiling band of industrial-grade plastic wrap enclosed this area, forming translucent walls.With minimal direction from the marketing and communications department of Smart and its parent company, Daimler AG, Lot-Ek played with ways to simultaneously highlight the art, display the book and a car, create areas for the publications to place their magazines, and provide seating for guests. Partly inspired by the raw, industrial look of the site, the firm opted to go with a parking-lot-style design that would be appropriate to the event's host.

Along two sides of the central structure, Lot-Ek placed cone-shaped picture viewers, made from plywood and covered in foil (for fire regulations), behind the plastic wrap. This allowed for each image to be lit brightly without taking attention away from the other sections of the event. On the other two walls, EyeMag Media projected the work from Sideways onto white spandex, which was placed closer to the windows to deter guests from lingering too long.

White decals on the concrete floors mimicked the painted lines and markings typically found in a car garage (Lot-Ek even used arrows to guide guests around the space), and each magazine was displayed on white cubes in its designated "lot." Other lots held seating, and in one corner, a Smart Car sat on a larger platform. To make each of these accents pop against the views of the city, everything from the furniture to the graphics was white, picked up by strips of fluorescent lights covered with blue gels.