Thinc Design with Local Projects Named as World Trade Center Memorial Museum Exhibition Designers

NEW YORK, April 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Thinc Design, in partnership with Local Projects, LLC, has been named the lead exhibition design team for the World Trade Center Memorial Museum. Thinc is a leading international exhibition firm whose practice focuses on the developing intersection of society and exhibit making in the United States, Europe and South Africa. Local Projects is a design studio that tells stories in public spaces, museums and over the Internet combining information design, media and interactivity. Both firms are based in New York City.

Together, the team of Thinc with Local Projects is at the forefront of design for public spaces that combine extensive visitor engagement, multifaceted storytelling, diverse communities and evolving narratives utilizing artifacts, digital media, broad visitor participation and the Internet. The World Trade Center Memorial Museum's subject, artifacts and public purpose call out urgently for an integrated approach to place, community and society utilizing traditional and new methodologies. As 9/11 was the most recorded event in history, the team's experience integrating technology and media will be a central element of the project.

"To be selected to design this museum is a great honor. The World Trade Center Memorial Museum will be a place of social interaction and one that reflects our belief that public places such as museums can have a direct and positive impact on society," said Tom Hennes, founder and creative director of Thinc. He continued, "We have explored this kind of institutional potential most recently in The Freedom Park in South Africa, a memorial and museum dedicated to the struggle for freedom and the ongoing process of South African nation-building. With the World Trade Center Memorial Museum, we hope to make a significant contribution here at home to the important processes of remembrance, healing and reconstruction following the horrific events of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001."

Jake Barton, Principal of Local Projects, said, "We're honored to be Thinc Design's partner in creating this museum of international importance. While our work as interaction designer for StoryCorps, and co-creator of Timescapes at the Museum of the City of New York, has brought shared storytelling to public spaces before, this challenge is tremendous: to gather and offer the stories of the countless witnesses to 9/11." He added, "Sharing these accounts will help to create a human experience for visitors, where physical artifacts will be enriched by the voice of first-hand experience."

The Thinc with Local Projects team includes: Ann F. Farrington, a leader in the development of high profile museums and award-winning exhibit developer and designer; Kathleen McLean, who was the Director of Public Exhibition and Public Programs at the Exploratorium in San Francisco for more than ten years and who was recently selected for the American Association of Museums' Centennial Honor Role; and Clay Shirky, who is a networks and communities expert, author and teacher at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

Hennes added, "We have assembled an extraordinary team with the diverse expertise and thought leadership this project demands. This kind of collaboration is how we love to work, and it's the way great projects are being designed these days."

Memorial Museum Director Alice M. Greenwald said, "Thinc Design, in partnership with Local Projects, LLC, was chosen for its competence, collaborative team, clear understanding of the Museum's ethos, strong and innovative use of media, and experience creating exhibitions that foster visitor engagement." She continued, "In Thinc and Local Projects, we believe we have identified an exceptional partner to help us deliver an extraordinary museum, one that can not only meet, but perhaps even exceed, the high expectations for the Memorial Museum dedicated to telling the story of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 that we are honored to create. This institution has the potential to be the first great museum of the 21st century. As such, the creative and seamless integration of new technologies into visitor experience is a prerequisite, and Thinc is at the forefront of this field."

The Approach

In preliminary design sketches, Thinc with Local Projects' concept for the Memorial Museum described the unique nature of this project -- just as 9/11 itself was unprecedented, both in the scope of the attacks and in the ways they were experienced around the world. The team believes this museum will need to redefine what a museum can be in order to fully document the event and fulfill its mandate. This will include the gathering of countless individual stories, the creation of systems that offer the ability to easily add and evolve the exhibition content over time as new information emerges, and exhibits designed to foster engagement and social interaction among individuals and visitor groups of different sizes. The exhibits will integrate archaeological remnants of the World Trade Center towers, a significant collection of physical artifacts, photographs and paper materials, a tremendous volume of digital and analog media.

Thinc with Local Projects will work closely with a team within the Memorial Museum to further develop the Memorial Museum's Master Plan, lead the design of its exhibits and direct a team of design consultants. Preliminary design concepts for the World Trade Center Memorial Museum will be revealed in 2008.

About Thinc

Thinc Design is a leading exhibition design firm serving clients throughout the United States and internationally. The firm plans, conceptualizes and designs exhibitions that reach diverse publics in new and exciting ways. Thinc's exhibition designs are in natural history museums, science centers, heritage museums, maritime centers and aquariums, botanical gardens and theme parks. Thinc also designs select projects for corporate clients. Founded by Tom Hennes in 1992, Thinc is based in New York City.

About Local Projects

Local Projects is an award-winning design studio that tells stories in public spaces, museums, and over the Internet, often simultaneously. By committing to projects that combine information design, media, and interactivity, Local Projects has made high-tech to no-tech interfaces that engage visitors in innovative and effective ways. It was founded by Jake Barton in 2001, and was a finalist for the National Design Awards in Communications in 2006.