The team explored and researched the city and created vision and goals for this revitalization project in the downtown plaza of Solingen.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest indoor theme park and the first and only Ferrari themed park recently opened in November 2010. Located on Yas Island, only a few kilometres from Abu Dhabi city centre, the site hosted the UAE’s first Grand Prix at the Yas Island Marina Circuit in November 2009.

RSM was thrilled to be part of such a unique project. RSM’s passionate team of Ferrari enthusiasts completed the theme park’s identity signs, entry sequence, exterior wayfinding program, facility signage, and structured car park graphics.

In addition to being the world’s largest indoor theme park, Ferrari World Abu Dhabi has quite an impressive stack of statistics:

• The 86,000-square-metre enclosed area of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi can fit seven football fields in ‘head to toe’.

• The Ferrari logo on the roof, the largest ever created, measures 65-metres in length and covers an area of 3,000-square-metres, which could fit at least seven basketball courts.

• The volume of concrete in Hoover Dam could fit inside Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

• Ferrari World Abu Dhabi needed 12,370 tons of steel to create its structure; the Eiffel Tower only needed 7,000 tons.

• Ferrari World Abu Dhabi features restaurants staffed by four Michelin-starred Italian chefs.

Solingen, called the “City of Blades,” renowned for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors, and razors is the location for one of RSM’s international mixed-use projects.

Finding inspiration through the cultural landscape and industries of Solingen (heavy machinery, precision products, the colors of iron ore glow), RSM is scratching the surface to uncover the wealth of textures, patterns, and materials that make up this environment. This inspiration and research has strongly influenced a comprehensive sign program for this dynamic mixed use retail and entertainment center.

RSM principals Harry Mark and Martin Schwartz have just returned from a two week trip to China, having visited six cities and meeting on five exciting on going graphics projects.  The meetings consisted of project presentations, coordination meetings, signage mock-up reviews, and marketing meetings, along with a bit of free time to take in the exciting sites of China.

Nanjing Taiwan Trade Mart: Construction of the project is progressing at super sonic speeds, with opening scheduled for mid September 2010. Harry and Martin were on site to review signage mock-ups and coordinate with the local sign fabricator to ensure the design intent is carried through all of the details of this comprehensive identity and wayfinding program.

Yantai One: Concept design presentations of the branding, logo, and wayfinding family were enthusiastically received by the group of stakeholders in this dynamic growing city in northern China.  Coordination with a local sign fabricator at this early stage was arranged to facilitate a seamless integration of the graphics with the architecture and marketing initiatives.

One City: The city of Ma’an Shan in central China is the site for this family focused urban retail and entertainment center.  The RSM designed graphics family was carefully crafted to work well within tight budget constraints and unique cultural and language parameters.

Check back soon for more project updates from China….

On their most recent trip to China, Harry and Martin actually stopped working for a day, set the computers aside, put on their most comfortable shoes, and headed out to one of the most exciting Expo events to come along in years.  On what ended up being one of the busiest days of the Expo to date, the two self-proclaimed “architectural junkies” met up with 499,998 of their now close friends to join the masses and see some incredible new and innovative architectural wonders.  Not wanting to wait in what was close to 6 hour long lines to get inside some of the pavilions, the two wandered the never ending exhibit areas from country to country, snapping multiple Megabytes of photos, searching for the ultimate regional cuisines and beer, discussing and debating which were their favorite pavilions and most innovative use of materials, and finally searching for an open bench to rest their weary jet lagged feet. 

Advice to all who plan on attending the Expo before it ends in October – give yourself more then one day to see it all, and have plenty of patience with the long lines… but be sure to go!

Working with the City of Rancho Cucamonga, RSM is enhancing the existing cultural plaza and public parking experience by designing a fun and energetic graphics program to engage the visitor and bring them to the many amenities of this Cultural Center – the events plaza, public library, theater, and conference facility.

The team at RSM designed a concept wayfinding program using over scaled silhouettes of local citizens becomes a fun way to engage the local community.  The designs serve many purposes:  sculptural elements are added to enliven the plaza, functional wayfinding to guide the visitor to the many uses, and a fund raising opportunity to have local citizens donate for the chance to be a part of this unique enhancement.

Barrio Logan, a unique and diverse neighborhood located in southern San Diego at the foot of the Coronado Bay Bridge is under redevelopment to enhance the community’s cultural and ethnic qualities and the neighborhood’s distinctive character.

As part of the redevelopment, RSM is working closely with Shea Properties on Mercado del Barrio, a residential and commercial mixed-use development – one of the first in the area. The team at RSM is creating a culturally appropriate branding, identity, and wayfinding program. The Mercado, located within the “heart” of Barrio Logan, consists of the redevelopment of two vacant city blocks into a vibrant lifestyle district that will include a Latino-themed supermarket, retail shops, residential units, and restaurants.

The new site will be released in Spring 2010.

The article compliments the branded graphics, focusing on “Aviation” as something completely new in the retail environment. Being one of the first branded shopping centers in Germany, the article discusses Loop 5 as a product or brand because of its innovative architecture and graphics. 

Sprechen Sie deustsch? Check out the magazine and the article at dbz.de.

The goal was to take the best of the existing site and make it more engaging with greater depth of quality and information. Improvements include the featuring of the most recently completed projects, the abilitiy to select portfolio galleries by project category, and descriptive listings of the studio’s services and offerings. Not to be forgotten are glimpses of the energetic team and principals, and the ability to dive into their minds and daily lives by viewing the philosophy, and process as they continue to progress and create bigger and better ideas and designs.

So kick back and surf the site at: www.rsmdesign.net

Love to hear your thoughts!