Oculus, St Pauls Cathedral
St. Paul’s Cathedral has stood at the City of London’s highest point for 1,400 years. The present-day cathedral, where services began in 1697, is the masterpiece of Britain’s most famous architect, Sir Christopher Wren. We were asked to design an identity for RAA’s exhibition in the crypt ‘Oculus: An Eye into St Paul’s’. The exhibition helps visitors learn about the Cathedral’s architecture, its history, and the Christian faith.
Presented in the crypt, a timeline illuminates its north aisle and highlights major events in the cathedral’s history. Advanced projection technology creates a 270-degree panoramic projection takes the viewer into the Cathedral’s ancient history, starting with its founding in 604 CE. The identity and mark that we designed takes the form of motifs from the architecture, forming an ‘eye’ from a view down to the crypt floor from the dome. It was then cast in bronze to sit harmoniously with the fabric of the building.
After the opening of Oculus, St. Paul’s was voted Visitor Attraction of the Year 2010 by UKinbound, a leading tourism association, and received more visitors than the previous year. The exhibition was also supported by the World Monuments Fund.