Beijing Pop-Up For Nike Uses Hall Of Mirrors To Amplify Cluster Of Screens

August 12, 2022 by Dave Haynes

This project came and went three years ago, but I just stumbled on it now – and it is kind of amazing … a pop-up store on a Beijing plaza that has an LED tunnel and an LCD-filled hall of mirrors.

The pop-up was run in Beijing’s Sanlitun shopping district to celebrate Air Max Day in 2019 – an immersive experiences intended to drive understanding and interest in Nike’s long-running Air line of shoes.

The “Air Research Centre” used gigantic bubbles and spaceship-like design to drive the air concept and a futuristic theme. The creative shop Rosie Lee was involved in the visuals and sums up some of the thinking and deliverables (warning: art-speak ahead) …

This digital tunnel of content aimed to expand the mind in preparation for the experience ahead. 360º of LED panels surround visitors displaying the Air Max testing process.

These firmly established the vision for the Air Research Centre, building anticipation and drawing people through to the next space.

This imaginary laboratory space offered interactive experiments giving insight into the process and creation of Air Max footwear, leading with recent technological breakthrough, the Air Max 720.

Through interactive Air testing pods, analysis bays and innovative footwear showcases, Nike’s Department of the Unimaginable aimed to capture and inspire the minds of the next generation of inventors.

The final space offers the most immersive experience and greatest opportunity to take part in the creation of content. An expanded space displayed an array of creative visual expressions inspired by Air with screens of user generated content.

Through disruptive screen sequencing, Nike invites its guests to experiment with the world around them and use Air to Go Bigger with their own creative vision. Using video platform Vue, to create, share and contribute to the future of Air.

The LED tunnel has been done in other projects, but it’s quite effective. I’ve not seen a lot of projects that have used mirrored walls and ceilings like this (though there’s this one in New York), but I like the way the mirrors multiplies the visuals on that cluster of suspended LCDs, and genuinely makes a space immersive.

This is the exterior …