Cannes Lions
ASIF KHAN, London / HYUNDAI / 2018
Awards:
Overview
Entries
Credits
Description
We proposed a project with no cars on show, no Hydrogen fuel cells and no company logos on the pavilion.
Rather, our idea was to bring the visitors and global audience closer to Hydrogen itself first, through a series of profound experiences of its nature, and through that bring them closer to Hyundai and their vision of future mobility and society around Hydrogen.
As this was to be an venue in the Winter Olympic park and high visitor numbers were expected, it needed to be suitable for quick viewing, and for a very wide demographic including children and international visitors. The experience had to be captivating for all and to communicate without any words.
We created three experiences: of hydrogen in the form of the universe, of hydrogen in the form of water, and of hydrogen changing nature as it moves through a fuel cell.
Execution
First we show Hydrogen at the Universe scale. Coated with VantaBlack VBX-2 the pavilion absorbs 99% of light, rendering it the 'blackest building on Earth'. This nano-coating had never been used beyond a laboratory scale before. Around 2000 LEDs form a 3D starfield, which seems to move as you walk. Mapped to stars above PyeongChang it 'twinkles' using adaptive lighting.
Inside the pavilion hydrogen is shown at human tactile scale in the form 25,000 water droplets which each minute speed across a superhydrophobic surface by simple and fun visitor interactions, criss-crossing like futuristic vehicles in a city, combining to create a small lake, a symbol of working together.
A series of 4 smaller spaces express beautiful moments within a fuel cell where hydrogen changes form.
An ambient immersive sound installation follows the visitor from interior to exterior. The atmosphere is one of relaxation, surprise and joy within the busy Olympics.
Outcome
We welcomed 72,000 visitors over 30 days of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. However, the greatest impact was felt globally. Major broadcasters such as BBC, CNN and NBC dedicated features to the "making of" the project and the collaborators involved, and the story of "the blackest building on Earth" spread virally, across all forms of media. Since it simultaneously combined architecture, storytelling, marketing, innovation, new materials, technology, history, science, art, and was for a car company and during the largest sporting event on earth in 2018, it was picked up by specialist media dealing with each of these subjects, and by the individual correspondents dealing with these subjects within all the general news outlets who were covering the Winter Olympics. This gave the project a exponentially wider reach than would normally be achieved around a car launch. This was a highly experimental project so we were all very happy.
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