CYPRESS, Ca.– The newly opened Renaissance Toledo Downtown in Ohio is delighting tourists and residents alike with a dazzling new permanent projection mapped public art installation on the hotel’s façade entitled “MindBlown Toledo.” Commissioned artist group Integrated Visions Productions (IVP) and its systems integration partner, Atlanta Soundworks, Inc.(ASW), selected Christie® HS Series laser projectors, Christie Pandoras Box and Christie Mystique™ Install to light up the 6,000 square foot digital mural with projection artworks that celebrate Toledo’s heritage as the glass capital of the world.
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First Hospitality Group, the hospitality and hotel management company behind the new hotel, wanted to celebrate the opening of the Renaissance Toledo Downtown in a unique way. “We didn’t want to just build a beautiful hotel for downtown Toledo; we wanted to create a place that truly belongs to this community, is part of the fabric of the city and is reflective of its beauty and rich history,” says Sam Schwartz, chief of staff, FHG.
IVP, which specializes in immersive displays including public art, brought ASW onboard to handle the systems integration, which included specifying the Christie technology. IVP and Atlanta Soundworks selected six Christie D13HD-HS 1DLP® laser projectors, Christie Mystique Install – Essentials Edition and a Christie Pandoras Box media server.
Shane Boyce, Senior Design Engineer, ASW, states “One of the main goals of the project was to select a manufacturer who could not only build the projectors, but also deliver the content management and control solution. There are very few display manufacturers who build quality projectors and understand the creative components of a project such as this. We loved the attention to detail that Christie provided during the design phase of this project.”
Adds Bob Payne, Vice President, IVP, “Shane is the one that placed us firmly in Christie’s hands. He explained to us how much Christie would get behind the installation, the creative work and the massive, massive difference in service. I can’t speak highly enough of Christie’s support on this installation.”
IVP and ASW deliberated on the projectors to specify for this project. “We knew we wanted laser phosphor projectors as we had just come off of an installation involving lamp-based projectors that required quite a number of lamp changes,” says Payne. “We took a number of cracks at projection design, looking at every projector we could find, and we were still unsure about using the single chip units, especially since this is two triple stacked zones with a difficult merge and blend. We were originally looking at 30,000 lumen projectors, but ending up with 13,000 lumen HS Series projectors has been a phenomenal solution. It changed the projection design in an incredibly positive way that made the installation much more workable.”
Mystique Install was pivotal to making the installation of six Christie HS series projectors feasible. “In our eyes, implementing Christie Mystique Install was imperative on this project. Mystique Install ensures proper projector alignment without having to deploy a technician to the site. The projectors for this project are mounted on a custom-built pedestal that sits a few feet away from a busy road and we had concerns about ground vibration impacting the projection alignment over time. We are able to remotely control the system and re-align the projectors in just a few minutes,” says Boyce.
Using Christie Pandoras Box for show control was a no-brainer, as both IVP and Atlanta Soundworks have experience with the media server. IVP has previously used Pandoras Box for large-scale projection mapping projects, and know it as a robust, reliable media server.
The permanent installation went live on June 28, 2018 and runs seven nights a week, beginning at 8:30 p.m. Currently showing are two collaborative artworks by Integrated Visions and glassblowing artist Leo Tecosky entitled “Directions” and “Refractions” that celebrate glass artwork and Toledo’s pivotal role in the studio glassblowing movement. IVP captured ultra-high resolution footage of the glassblowing process in Tecosky’s studio and used that footage along with custom animation to create two dynamic pieces of public art. The glass sculpture that was created by Tecosky during filming is on display inside the hotel.
The reaction to the installation has been “very positive” says Payne. “We’re excited about the ongoing process, working with the hotel and the community. The projectors will run for years, which provides an opportunity for Integrated Visions to create a variety of new artworks to present on the surface. We’re excited to collaborate with the Toledo Museum of Art and a variety of other artists to explore those possibilities.”
As for the technology, the installation was so successful that IVP “will always be a Christie customer.”
