New York at Its Core
Decoding the city's past to help visitors imagine its future.
Overview
Telling the full story of New York City is a daunting task; predicting its future is even harder. For the Museum of the City of New York, we created New York at Its Core, a landmark exhibition that frames the last 400 years as a prologue to the present. By combining deep historical scholarship with immersive media, we turned the city’s complex history into a user manual—giving visitors the context they need to understand how a Dutch trading post became a global metropolis, and what challenges lie ahead.
Services
Experience Design, Media Design, Media & Software Development
“Through clever design that mixes fantastical visions with real city metrics, the exhibition gives visitors the tools to become active participants in the city's unceasing development.”
The Details
The experience is anchored by two main historical galleries: Port City and World City. Here, we used technology to bring the archives to life. Visitors encounter interactive stations that introduce over 70 historical figures—from famous leaders to everyday citizens—allowing them to "meet" the people who shaped the city. This deep dive into the past served as the foundation for the Future City Lab, an interactive zone that challenged visitors to apply those historical lessons to real-world issues like housing, density, and climate resilience.
