Global Crossroads

An innovative tool to enhance educational engagement and foster discourse, Global Crossroads is a dynamic, large-scale environmental installation driven by web technologies and content created within an accompanying web app.

The centerpiece of the new informal learning space at Occidental College’s historic Johnson Hall, recently reimagined by Belzberg Architects, is a two-story wall of sculpted glass with reactive LED lighting and ten embedded displays that showcase the depth and dimension of student work being developed and explored. Student research, dispatches from around the globe, and other curated content generated using the web app enliven the space, providing an insight into the breadth of experience that shapes a liberal arts education.

This system is the pulse of the Occidental community, reinvigorating the process of inquiry and exploration and provoking collaboration across varying disciplines. As the web app drives the creation and ideation of student projects, the media wall exposes the importance of visual and digital literacy and storytelling techniques.