ASSEMBLY ROW HOLIDAY INSTALLATION

The Assembly Row Shopping Center in Somerville engaged Materials & Methods to create a fresh, fun and engaging installation for the holiday seasons of 2015 and 2016.

The installation was conceived as a celebration of the season and of the rich industrial history of Assembly Row. The design process began with an investigation of the iconic elements of the winter months that make our collective memories of this season feel so magical; sledding in the snow, stacks of cut logs for the fire, falling snowflakes, and most of all the soft glow of sparkling lights.

These elements were then re-imagined with a fresh and fun contemporary aesthetic, leading to the creation of an the installation that featured giant snowflakes fabricated out of reclaimed wood and vintage industrial steel cogs and internally lit programmable LED lights.  Three giant snowflakes were hung from the iconic steel arches that tower at the end of the Row, an homage to the rich industrial history of the complex.

The ground level installation was designed to be an ideal backdrop for holiday photos and social media posts, and featured stacks of round birch and pine logs, smaller reclaimed wood and steel cog snowflakes, and a large snowflake at the center made from vintage Radio Flyer sleds.  In the plaza was a small village of cabins and clusters of stumps as casual seating, but these cabins were depicted in simple stick-frames of the iconic cabin shape with internally glowing bands of LED light.

The installation was unveiled at the “Light the Row” ceremony by Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone.