Illuminarium is coming to Chicago in 2023

The 32,000 square-foot experience will be the fourth Illuminarium location in the U.S., joining Atlanta, Miami and Las Vegas.

After years in the making, Illuminarium is officially open!

What museums are to art, cinemas to movies, and concert halls to music, Illuminariums are to experiential entertainment.

RockwellGroup’s new book Drama by David Rockwell

We're thrilled to share that Rockwellgroup’s new book Drama by David Rockwell with Bruce Mau, featuring many of LAB’s projects, is available for purchase!

We are thrilled to announce The FUTURES, a monumental new exhibition, at the Smithsonian's historic Arts + Industries Building in Washington, D.C.

This groundbreaking new museum experience, which opens in November 2021, will fuse awe-inspiring art, technology, design, and history, inviting visitors to dream big and imagine not just one but many possible futures on the horizon. LAB at Rockwell Group is creating a touch-free digital ecosystem sponsored by SoftBank that will enhance the storytelling experience for visitors.

Living Canvas at 299 Park Ave

The entry space at 299 Park Ave was a product of a partnership between Studio K (architecture, interiors, and design) and LAB (interactivity, software, and content).

See Paul McGill’s Bloom Launch 299 Park Avenue’s Live Theatrical Performance Series

The site-specific dance piece unveiled the newly renovated Park Avenue tower, designed by Tony Award winner David Rockwell.

Read more about 299 Park Ave in Playbill, NY Yimby.

See the incredible views from Hudson Yards’s sky-high observation deck

— “Along with the incredible views, we’re going to take you on an immersive experiential journey that celebrates the thrill of transformation”, said Melissa Hoffman, principal, studio leader of The LAB at Rockwell Group.

Unveiling our newest project, the Oculus at Hard Rock!

Comprised of digital content, water, music, and lighting, transforming the entrance experience into "a full, live environment."
See more articles in WPLG Local 10, People, Local 10, Miami Herald, CBS Miami

Behind The Scenes: The LAB at Rockwell Group

— “The team behind the sought-after experiential design firm shares how their different disciplines create an unexpected synergy.”

Up All Night at The Cosmopolitan Hotel

— “With 21 miles of extravagant crystal-bead swags glowing with digital projections, The Chandelier, designed by the LAB at Rockwell Group, preens like a catwalk gown on the red carpet.”

Rockwell Group builds sloped Lawn in Washington DC's National Building Museum

Read about Lawn in Architect, Arch Daily, Architectural Digest, Architect’s Newspaper, DCist, Dezeen, The Georgetown Dish, Interior Design, Surface Magazine, Wallpaper

11 Things Not to Miss in New York’s Art World This Week

— “This annual tradition from design firm LAB at Rockwell Group turns the ceiling of Brookfield Place’s Winter Garden into a canopy of changing colored lights. “

Customer Experience That's A Story, Not A Snooze

— “The LAB’s collection of technologists, architects, graphic designers, and content developers specialize in narrative-based experiences in physical spaces and digital-physical hybrids. “

David Rockwell + 2x4's "The Diner" for Surface

Read more about The Diner in Dezeen, Elle Decor, Wallpaper, CNN Style

04/29/17 — ARCHITECTURAL RECORD — **04/29/17** — ARCHITECTURAL RECORD

OldCastle Building Envelope’s Booth at the 2017 AIA Conference

We created a new kind of trade show booth by focusing on hospitality rather than sales.

03/23/17 — New York City Arts and Culture Guide — **03/23/17** — New York City Arts and Culture Guide

Collective Design

We're excited to announce our collaboration with Collective Design. Look for an undulating passageway of shimmering fringe that will greet you at the entrance of the Collective Design Fair happening May 3 - 7 at Skylight Clarkson Sq.

Hudson Yards Experience Center in Bloomberg Pursuits and Curbed

— Selling a neighborhood and experience before it is even built. The Hudson Yards Experience Center uses interactive technology and luxurious materials to create the ultimate sales gallery.

Read the full article via Bloomberg or Curbed

The New York Times calls Museum of Feelings "The Perfect Place to take a selfie"

Read about it in the HuffingtonPost and the New York Times

Digital Blocks at the National Building Museum

— "The sensors detect human forms, and people's silhouettes appear, allowing the blocks to shift, stack, and topple in response to movement and gestures."

Read the full article here in Metropolis Magazine

Newark Airport's new United Terminal looks like a food theme park

— "Rockwell's designers plan to use landmarks in each of the gate clusters to help guide people. At a ramen bar, for example, the chef will be elevated on a stage-like platform as he pulls up fresh noodles."

Read the full article here in Fast Co. Design

FATT x Patten Studio

— Patten Studio joins the LAB for a night of wine & cheese to talk prototyping, interactive design, education, and the future.

Rockwell Group creates the illusion of tradition for modern brand Shinola

Read the article here in Frame Magazine

PSFK on our our Intel Ultrabook tree as CES: "Points to the future of computer interaction"

Read the full article in PSFK here

Spacebrew goes MAD

— The LAB hosts a series of Spacebrew workshops at the Museum of Arts and Design

Metropolis Redesign Party

— "Metropolis kicked off the magazine’s redesign with a launch at the Cooper Hewitt."

The Architectural League invited the LAB to participate in the 2014 Beaux Arts Ball

"The LAB's digital content took a cue from the highly detailed hardware from the historic space." — Read more here

An architect and a choreographer collaborate on an airline terminal

— "Passengers may now pirouette to Gate 3" in JetBlue's Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport

Read the full article here in the New York Times

A restaurant in which to see and be seen

— "Waterfalls appear to flow down the statue, its eyes seem to 'blink,' [and] tattoos trace magically along [the Quan Yin's] many arms."

Read the full article here in Contract Magazine

Exhibit on blocks makes for creative playtime

— "Parents and children may want to consider putting down the video games and picking up the building blocks."

Read the full article here in USAToday

“A place that can take you anyplace”— Illuminarium

In our latest project, we designed and developed each generative environment evolves throughout the night to deliver immersive visual destinations rendered in real-time.

Featured press— Variety, Hospitality Design, Digital Trends, What Now Atlanta, Blooloop, and WFMZ

This immersive, first-of-its-kind experience is "like walking into a high-definition documentary film."

Read the full Fast Company article about the team and technology behind our first location in Atlanta.

Immersive entertainment venue coming to the Atlanta Beltline

The commitment from Eldridge will support the launch of the first-ever Illuminarium in Atlanta, GA, opening July 1, 2021, as well as future global locations. Illuminarium's immersive entertainment venues enable visitors to experience real world, filmed content and authentic, re-created worlds in an environment unlike any other.

Join Directors David Tracy and Dan Marino today at #NeoCon2021

— About the role that technology and media play in the built environment. Check out @neocon_shows for more details and registration for this talk, as well as the full May 19 and 20 program on "Designing in a Digital World."

Cities and Business District Trying to Brighten the Mood With Holiday Lights

…Brookfield Place, has launched Luminaries, light shows designed by the LAB at Rockwell Group. Hundreds of colorful lanterns have been suspended among the plants in the Winter Garden there. Contactless wishing stations will allow visitors to send a motion-activated wish to the lanterns above, prompting a display of vibrant lights.

Join us on a “Journey to Edge”!

The immersive experience to Edge, the Western Hemisphere’s highest outdoor sky deck, telling the story of Hudson Yards’ transformation from a rail yard to NYC’s newest neighborhood.

The Escalation of Immersive Experiences

Our Principal/Studio Leader Melissa spoke on an immersive experiences panel at VenuesNow about the Lab’s approach through the lens of hospitality.

Playtime: Inside architect David Rockwell's pleasure-seeking world

This year, his firm's more experimental arm, LAB, designed the Tia Clinic, a modern alternative take on a women's health clinic in Manhattan's Flatiron district. Aimed at revolutionizing the experience of visiting a gynecologist, the members-only healthcare facility looks more like a living room than a waiting room, with welcoming furnishings and thoughtful injections of color.

Projection Mapping Installation at Next50

Our projection mapping on printed images at Next50, a celebration of Chef José Andrés and the amazing relief work of World Central Kitchen.

Read more in our Blog and watch the show on Vimeo

Fun Facts about Lawn

Our Summer Block Party installation at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., is open for daydreaming, lemonade, movie nights, hammock naps, and more throughout the summer.
We developed an Augmented Reality game for chasing and collecting fireflies. Available in AppStore and Google Play as NBM Lawn

The National Building Museum's Summer Installation Is a Giant Indoor Lawn

Meet the New Women’s Clinic

— “Finding an architecture partner who would go beyond the nuts and bolts of walls and exam rooms, and think about the full user journey.” The Lab at Rockwell Group brought a sense of calm to a traditionally anxiety-inducing space.

Read about Tia Clinic in Vogue, Bustle, Cosmopolitan, Core77

The LAB at Rockwell Group Builds a Future for Hilton

Embedded LED strips brighten up seating areas off the entrance; a screen descends from the ceiling in front of the rear glass wall for use in VR experiences.

Crafting the New Immersive Experience with the LAB at Rockwell Group

— “The LAB builds memorable experiences by blending the spectacular and the intimate with a good story. Most projects are permanent installations on an architectural scale, the choreography of space. “

Collective Design 2017: Tinsel Town

We created a custom mylar installation for the entrance of the Collective Design Fair 2017 and Interior Design Magazine came down to Skylight Clarkson Sq to talk tinsel with us.

Luminaries is back up at Brookfield Place

"A new holiday ritual in the heart of downtown New York. Luminaries is an interactive public lighting display that allows you to cast your wish and watch it fly into the canopy above." — Read about Luminaries in CBSNews, DesignBoom, Dezeen, Fast Company, Forbes, NYMag

Our technologist David Tracy talks Virtual Reality in the design process

Read the full text here.

All Aboard Florida in USAToday

— We created a new train that was designed within the framework of hospitality, providing connections between major cities throughout Florida.

Read the article here USAToday

Reinventing the theater for the TED era

— "Rockwell's bespoke pop-up theater, a timber structure with customized seating that fosters an intimate connection between audience and speaker, debuts at TED2014 in Vancouver."

Read more about TED's new theater in Fast Co. Design & Vanity Fair

Screen Shot 2019-05-22 at 11.51.57 AM.png

605 3rd Avenue in the Wall Street Journal

— "A new take on lobby art—these digital, interactive windows respond and transform to the environment around them."

Read the full article here in The Wall Street Journal

FATT LABMakes Does Stop Motion Animation

— The LAB continues the exploration between the digital and physical by creating stop motion clay animations for our FATT LABMakes. Our only constraint? Use our logo in some aspect of the design.