Empire State Building: Second Floor Exhibits

10,000 Square Feet of Modern Interactive Exhibits Tell the 100-Year Story of an Iconic Landmark

As part of its reimagined Observatory experience project, the Empire State Building (ESB)’s second floor exhibits take guests on a journey from the building’s construction to its current place in pop culture history. The immersive, modern interactive exhibits tell the full story from conception to reality of the creation of an internationally renowned landmark and Diversified, through its cutting-edge technology solutions and digital media expertise, helped the ESB bring that story to life.

Upon entrance to the second floor, short-throw projectors, LED video walls, HD displays and localized audio systems not only animate the progression of William F. Lamb’s iconic architectural drawings and the record time that the skyscraper was built, but also place guests right in the middle of 1920s Fifth Avenue via CGI and live action video, giving them a taste of what it meant to bring the landmark to the city at that time. Then, after seeing how the building was conceptualized, guests are ushered into a fully immersive experience of the building’s construction with animated photography displayed across four LED video walls and an LED ceiling, accented by ambient surround sound that brings them right into the scene. Additional LED displays throughout the exhibit, paired with highly produced digital content, provide insights into the building’s history of innovation and indirect wayfinding to its famous elevators, where video content covers their history, how they operate and why.

Next, guests are brought into a digital gallery created from a collection of media clips and stills of productions in which the ESB appears. The gallery itself is comprised of wall-mounted displays as well as 74 projection surfaces in five sizes, arranged around the perimeter to create a curved mosaic wall. A display on the back wall above the seating area contains a scrolling IMDb-like list of media elements and building trivia.

Last, but certainly not least, Diversified was instrumental in building the gallery’s showpiece King Kong exhibit. Through a combination of large HD displays, 4D media elements, animation, synced soundtrack and animatronics, the set provides an immersive environment that makes the guests feel like they are actually in the movie—rounding out a museum experience that is unlike any other in the world.

Missed Phase One? Check out the ESB Entrance and Grand Lobby here.