Triangle Room Shadow Play
From behind two large glowing text-covered surfaces, larger-than-life figures act out a crucial moment in Coca-Cola history.
Visitors walking through the exhibit spy a large glowing structure at the end of the corridor, and wonder what it might be—is this the home of the secret formula?
In fact, this triangular structure joins two expansive monolithic surfaces covered in handwriting that transcribes the voice of Howard Candler—son of Asa Candler, one of the company’s first chief executives—recounting his experience learning how to mix the secret formula. Howard’s words tell the same story in voiceover to the room, speaking of the first truly secure location of the formula: a triangular room at Coca-Cola headquarters.
Silhouetted figures of the two men move across the large surfaces, as if they are inside the triangular structure, performing the tasks described in the text: sampling and mixing ingredients, scraping labels off bottles. The effect is of being thrust back in time to an important moment in the history of the secret formula.