The new era of billboards

Tatiana Andrus / Architecture / 10 September 2018

The other day, near one of the London bus stops on West Cromwell Road in Kensington, the first billboard in the world, created by the design division of the famous British architectural bureau Zaha Hadid Design, opened.

The building called The Kensington resembles an art installation and symbolizes the union of modern construction and digital technologies. The project was sponsored by an international media corporation JCDecaux.

Photo: Luke Hayes/JCDecaux

Using the money received from advertising, the JCDecaux company provides a wide range of products and services for the formation of comfortable urban infrastructure around the world for free. She initiates the construction of bus stops, the installation of street lighting, benches, toilets, shelters, Wi-Fi access points and charging stations for mobile devices, as well as city information screens.

Photo: Luke Hayes/JCDecaux

The installation, designed in the form of a curved tape made of matte stainless steel, frames the digital screen. "This design expresses the dynamism, the movement of pedestrians and traffic that intersect at this busy London intersection. From different angles, the steel tape looks completely different. It's a new, unique look at the billboard," says Melody Leung, senior researcher at Zaha Hadid Design.