UN Headquarters NY

A Day in Riyadh

2016
Cross Cultural Panorama
A 24-meter interactive LED panorama invited visitors to discover the contemporary life and voices of Saudi Arabia’s capital.

A 24-metre interactive LED wall at the UN Headquarters brought the capital of Saudi Arabia to life through personal stories and real-scale visual narratives.

Passersby triggered citizens of Riyadh to appear with deeply human accounts of life in the city.

This immersive installation connected global decision-makers with the everyday realities and vibrant culture of a metropolis few had explored before.

People walking in front of large projection screen displaying desert landscape and conference graphics
Corridor to a city

The concept was a linear, interactive panorama that turned a passage zone into a space of encounter. A 24-metre LED wall, placed at a key junction in the UN building, showed an evolving urban landscape of Riyadh.

When visitors approached, the system triggered appearances of real Riyadh residents at life-size scale: students, entrepreneurs, athletes, journalists, engineers and others. Each shared short, personal statements about their lives, aspirations, and relationship to the city.
The visual language combined clean portrait framing, contextual city imagery, and subtle interface cues, so interaction felt intuitive without any explicit instructions.

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Meeting Riyadh Face-to-Face

Audience activated the installation by moving close to the screen, causing life-size figures from Riyadh to emerge and speak about their lives, hopes, and everyday experiences. Movement in the UN lobby became part of the dramaturgy: the more visitors engaged, the richer and more continuous the flow of stories.

This interplay between user and content created an emotional bond, transforming the UN lobby into a lively stage of human narratives.

The piece offered a textured portrayal of a pulsating metropolis with many facets, encouraging global visitors to rethink stereotypes and connect personally with Saudi culture.

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Museum hallway with large mural display and visitors walking beneath recessed ceiling lights.
Large red digital display screen in modern interior showing education content with over 4000 universities
Person walking past large digital display screens showing city scenes and daily life statistics in indoor corridor.
Museum gallery with illuminated display panels about living memory of nation, visitors viewing exhibits.
People gathered at illuminated event display featuring educator Mohammed Al Zougaibi in traditional white attire.
Man viewing large display screen showing Mohammed Al Zougaibi, educator, with historical capital cityscape imagery
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Culture in a Diplomatic Corridor

During the 2016 UN General Assembly, diplomats and delegates from 193 countries crossed the same circulation spaces on tight schedules. The challenge was to speak to this highly formal, time-pressed audience with an experience that was clear at a glance yet deep enough to change perception.

The installation needed to present Riyadh as a diverse, contemporary city, not a generic backdrop, and to do so in a way that felt respectful, non-intrusive, and technically robust in a high-security environment.

The project introduced Riyadh’s social and cultural reality into one of the world’s most symbolic political spaces, without speeches or statistics. It created a low-threshold, emotionally accessible experience that complemented the policy debates of the General Assembly and promoted cross-cultural understanding in a setting usually dominated by protocol.

Project Highlights

  • 24-metre interactive LED panorama inside UN Headquarters
  • Life-size citizens of Riyadh triggered by visitor movement
  • Personal, emotion-driven stories instead of promotional messaging
  • Cultural storytelling integrated into a high-level diplomatic event

Facts & Figures

Client:
Arriyadh Development Authority
Location:
United Nations Headquarters
New York
USA
Type:
Interactive LED wall installation at the UN General Assembly
Audience
Political leaders, diplomats and delegates worldwide
On View:
No
TMS Scope:
Scenography, concept design, media and interaction design, script and storyboard, motion design and animation, editing, interactive programming, implementation supervision, project management, green screen studio and location shooting
Project Partners:

Lead Agency & Scenography: Boris Micka Associates
Music & Sound Design: Not a Machine