UNSW

Mission For Earth Habitation

Installation

"Humankind has committed to spending trillions of dollars and hundreds of years to settle a dusty alien planet with -65° temperatures.

But Earth is only 1°C hotter than the optimal temperature for human life.

What if we focused our efforts closer to home.

It’s not so science fiction. We have all the tools we need to make Earth more habitable right now.

Maybe then we wouldn’t need to jump planet so soon."

Mission For Earth Habitation — three visitors watching a pink digital landscape on the curved LED wall

Commissioned by Howatson+Company for the University of New South Wales, Mission For Earth Habitation was a one day exhibition staged on the University’s annual Open Day.

Created as a takeover of the UNSW Esme Timbery Theatre space, the exhibition was designed as a call to arms to compel new students to think about career choices that could benefit the planet.

Animated still of blue blooms along an orange desert shoreline, from Mission For Earth Habitation

The exhibition was created to take place across multiple areas within the building as an exploratory multi-disciplinary journey. We used a range of physical, sonic and screen formats such as tiled LED walls, projections and suspended monitors to explore the themes of the concept in a way that brought a richer experience to visitors.

University of New South Wales gallery with a pink terrain model on a plinth beneath lightboxes

The event needed to have a cohesive and unique presence across a large internal space while at the same time working in harmony with the university’s established brand system.

Mission For Earth Habitation icon set, five circular marks drawn from dots, waves and maze lines

Object display case of acrylic panels beside the yellow Mission For Earth Habitation title wall

We collaborated with the UNSW Design Futures Lab to create a series of bespoke sculptural pieces that supported the exhibition messaging and visual themes. One of the largest pieces, the 1.6m diameter mountain peak was carved by the lab’s six axis CNC robot arm. All of the sculptures were designed to evoke a feeling between science and art.

Contour-milled timber panels in the workshop, part of the University of New South Wales exhibition build

Robotic arm milling a blue foam mountain for the Mission For Earth Habitation terrain model

Pink milled mountain model from Mission For Earth Habitation, ridged with fine machining lines

University of New South Wales exhibit with a green seed form and orange coral in acrylic vitrines

The hero piece of the exhibition was a 90sec full CG film that was directed by Collider’s Glenn Stewart and scored by Australian composer Richard Pike (PVT). Created to be highly immersive and captivating within the context, the film explored the central themes of the exhibition through the creation of hypereal and unfamiliar landscapes and scenarios.

One of the main challenges for the exhibition was to repurpose a highly functional space into something transporting and immersive. Through the use of simple spatial reorganising and lighting we were able to keep the themes of the exhibition clear throughout the journey.

Experience design corridor washed yellow to teal, a lone visitor walking towards the far end

Mission For Earth Habitation corridor in blue and green light as a young visitor walks towards camera

The exit space provided a more contemplative end area for those who’d experienced the visual metaphors of the exhibition. In this area visitors could learn more deeply about real, active projects undertaken by UNSW in the five key categories of change.

Five backlit information panels glowing in a darkened University of New South Wales exhibition room

Hanging illuminated planet discs casting soft shadows in the darkened Mission For Earth Habitation space

Animated exoskeleton lattice wrapping a forearm on red, part of the Life Expectancy zone graphic

Circular LED artwork outside the Esme Timbery Creative Practice Lab, University of New South Wales

Credits:

Collider Studio Team
Creative Direction: Andrew van der Westhuyzen
Director (film): Glenn Stewart
Technical Director: Hugh Carrick-Allan
3D Artist: Joey Harper
Head of Studio Production: Hoss Ghonouie

Music Composer: Richard Pike

Howatson+Company Team
Art Director: Elaine Li
Copywriter: Jared Wicker
Head of Production: Holly Alexander

In collaboration with UNSW Design Futures Lab

Mission For Earth Habitation

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