Fall 2011

New York, NY

Located in what is considered the heart of Central Park in New York City, the Bethesda Terrace is situated on two levels. These levels are united by two grand staircases and a lesser one that passes under Terrace Drive to provide passage southward to the Elkan Naumburg bandshell and The Mall, of which this is the architectural culmination, the theatrical set-piece at the center of the park. The upper terrace flanks the 72nd Street Cross Drive and the lower terrace provides a podium for viewing the Lake.

The client (klip Collective) was responsible for projecting a 5-minute program on the façade of the Terrace and needed exact 3D dimensions of the surface. SmartGeoMetrics was responsible for capturing this data.

“Laser scanning the location creates a bump map that is fed into software to create a virtual 3-D model. Colors, shapes and photos can then be virtually projected on the model. The effects can then be re-created in the physical space—the laser scan is so precise that the pixels line up almost perfectly. The effect can be overwhelmingly beautiful. “I got chills,” says Terri Coppersmith, vp of development and external affairs at the Central Park Conservancy. “Something so technologically savvy on something so historic—it told an old story in such a new way.” The mist caused the projection to glow sublimely on the wet ground in front of the terrace.”

See a video of the projection.