3D wayfinding as a showcase
Silo’s wayfinding designs expertly balance functionality, visibility, and architectural integration. But what if the ambition is for wayfinding to take centre stage? Nimeto, a vocational college educating the next generation of creative makers, desired a cutting-edge showcase to inspire and engage their students, particularly those aspiring to become future wayfinding developers.
Client
Nimeto
Partners
Architect: Maarten van Kesteren
3D printing in collaboration with The New Raw and Phygital
Strategy and sign plan: MijksWise and Eyedog
Awards
Gold Cube ADC Annual Awards New York
ICoD Excellence Award, Taipei Design Awards
Navigating education: Nimeto's unique needs
From a wayfinding standpoint, schools typically have straightforward navigational requirements. New students quickly become familiar with the hallways, and staff usually accompanies visitors. Typically, clear identification of classrooms and facilities, along with a few directional signs, suffices.
Nimeto, however, sought more than just a navigation system; they requested a state-of-the-art showcase — a dynamic representation of how wayfinding and signage contribute to a building, enhancing its identity.
Educating wayfinders
Inspired by the capabilities of Nimeto’s 3D printers, we developed an expandable, innovative, and eye-catching system. The showcase serves an educational purpose. It becomes a living example for wayfinding students, providing practical insights into layout, grids, typography use, placement, and the art of using wayfinding as a narrative device. The shared source files also empower students to reprint elements, allowing the system to be expanded and maintained by the school itself.
Extensive testing
1:1 samples of the large floor numbers
“Nimeto's wayfinding showcase is a character-defining element of the spatial experience.”
Courage to stand out
To engage with the student body, Silo participated in the curriculum. Observing the delicate balance between fitting in and standing out, the ambition surfaced to make encouraging statements through wayfinding. Illuminated pictograms in key locations, like the central Services Square and the restaurant, act as focal points, evoking positivity and smiles. They showcase how simple shapes can convey messages beyond the obvious. Supersized sculptural floor numbers send the message that it’s okay to think big!
In architectural harmony
The architectural vision for Nimeto’s renovation aimed to foster cohesion between buildings of different eras, emphasising pure, toned-down materials as a canvas for student work. To integrate wayfinding into this aesthetic, we focused on details, material unity and colour, ensuring the tangible qualities of the signs harmonised with the architecture while maintaining a touch of informality.
