Bronze Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design · 2026
Elogio de la Sombra de Buenos Aires Exhibition and Identity
by Acorde & Co.
- A' Design Award 2026 Bronze Winner in Cultural Heritage and Culture Industry Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Acorde & Co.
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 5,710
- Verification code 7514E77482 · Verify this award
About Elogio de la Sombra de Buenos Aires Exhibition and Identity
Elogio de la Sombra de Buenos Aires is a site specific exhibition and visual identity created for the Centro Cultural Borges. The exhibition presents twelve miniature scenes of daily life in downtown Buenos Aires, inspired by a poem by Jorge Luis Borges. Paper cutouts are placed inside micro perforated cylindrical capsules that light them and project their shadows. The installation occupies five shop windows. Calligraphic symbols from the institutional archive were digitized for titles, labels and printed materials. An interactive microsite is reached through a code on the windows.
Martina Zangari's Elogio de la Sombra de Buenos Aires Exhibition and Identity exemplifies contemporary exhibition design's capacity to transform architectural surfaces into sites of cultural communication while honoring the urban fabric's historical character, the work positioning itself within traditions of institutional wayfinding and identity systems that seek to create dignified public interfaces between interior cultural programming and exterior urban experience. The compositional achievement demonstrates sophisticated understanding of visual hierarchy and spatial relationships, employing a restrained material vocabulary of white painted or plastered surfaces punctuated by internally illuminated translucent spheres whose warm amber glow creates focal points without overwhelming the facade's serene minimalism, while the strategic framing through ornate wrought-iron balustrade elements establishes a layered spatial reading that honors the surrounding architectural heritage; the designer's chromatic restraint, limiting the palette to near-whites, warm metallics, and deep graphite tones, achieves both contemporary institutional authority and harmonious integration with historic building contexts, the pale surfaces providing optimal neutral ground for institutional identification while the glowing spheres introduce subtle warmth suggesting cultural vitality and welcoming accessibility. The technical execution reveals careful attention to proportional relationships, with the spherical elements arranged in asymmetrical constellation that creates visual interest without disrupting the facade's fundamental geometric order, their scale calibrated to read as significant markers from street level while remaining subordinate to the architectural frame's vertical and horizontal articulation; the window grid's strong linear geometry establishes rational order and transparency metaphors appropriate to cultural institutions, while the spheres' organic forms and soft luminosity introduce humanizing counterpoint to orthogonal severity. This exhibition identity system appears to engage questions of institutional presence within urban environments, exploring how cultural organizations might signal their missions and values through restrained architectural intervention rather than overwhelming signage or promotional display, the approach suggesting confidence that quality, clarity, and subtlety can effectively communicate cultural purpose; the glowing spheres may evoke associations with illumination as metaphor for knowledge, enlightenment, and cultural enrichment, their translucent materiality suggesting both openness and protection, revelation and contemplation. The integration of motion blur capturing a passing pedestrian introduces temporal dimension and activates the threshold space, reminding viewers that exhibition design ultimately serves to mediate between the flow of urban life and the stillness of contemplative cultural engagement, the blurred figure perhaps representing all potential visitors whose trajectories might pause at this threshold of cultural encounter. How might this delicate balance between presence and restraint, between contemporary intervention and historical respect, between institutional authority and welcoming accessibility, inform broader conversations about cultural institutions' relationships to their urban contexts and publics?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The creation of a sensitive and minimalist artwork and design, emphasizing the installation's presence in the space, under the noise and visual pollution conditions typical of the downtown area, and especially the entrance areas to the Galerias Pacifico shopping center, where the Centro Cultural Borges is located.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 1. Layout of the art installation in five shop windows in a public space.
a. Implementation of institutional identity elements.
b. Implementation of the identity developed for the exhibition.
c. Monitoring and control during the installation of the artwork.
2. Communication.
a. Pre-opening.
i. Invitations and digital content for social media.
ii. Posters and brochures for the cultural center's programming.
iii. Promotional stationery.
b. Opening and promotion.
i. Flyers and digital content for social media.
ii. Interactive microsite linked to the shop windows. - Tags
- Cultural Heritage, Culture, World Literature, Jorge Luis Borges, Buenos Aires, Artistic Space, Artwork, Exhibition, Identity, Design
- Production Technology
- These scenes are made from paper cutouts inside micro-perforated cylindrical capsules which illuminates them by projecting their shadows.
The project included graphic production and the preparation of original artwork, the creation of layouts, maps, and assembly diagrams, and the installation of graphic works for application by the various teams.
It also involved the reinterpretation, digitization, and implementation of calligraphic symbols obtained from the institutional archive for the composition of labels, titles, curatorial texts, and promotional materials for the exhibition. Finally, it included the design and layout of promotional materials and public and institutional outreach materials for the exhibition. - Design Challenge
- The main challenge was to carefully consider the visual attributes in relation to the work and imagery of Jorge Luis Borges, and more specifically, his poetry connected to the city.
- Project Duration
- The project was carried out in Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires between January and April 2024 and was exhibited at the Centro Cultural Borges until June 2024.
- Operation Flow
- The project focuses on the windows of the Centro Cultural Borges, where the installation is located. It aims to capture the attention of passersby in downtown Buenos Aires, visually narrating a poem by Jorge Luis Borges through the contrast with the city. The installation is complemented by an interactive microsite, accessible via QR code integrated into the windows. On this site, visitors can learn about the project and create their own interpretations of the Buenos Aires landscape, much like Borges in his eponymous poem.
For the physical component, a series of institutional and promotional materials (including invitations, posters, and fanzines) and specific furniture were developed, all sharing the same spirit and visual key. - Research
- In the context of the Centro Cultural Borges new season during the first quarter of 2024, the site-specific exhibition "Elogio de la Sombra de Buenos Aires" was programmed in the historic center of Buenos Aires. The exhibition consists of twelve miniature models of typical scenes and daily life in downtown Buenos Aires.
The initial stage of the project involved research into the cultural center's heritage collection, which includes numerous documents and manuscripts by the author. Based on these, a digitization process was developed for his personal handwriting, as well as for various stationery items and historical documents.
Furthermore, to create the required series of architectural pieces, measurements and spatial details of the facilities were surveyed. These facilities share space with the Galerias Pacifico shopping center, including the large glass-fronted galleries facing the street at the intersection of San Martin and Viamonte streets. It is also significant that the landscape in which these galleries are situated during peak hours is filled with heavy traffic and activity, constituting the typical metropolitan and cosmopolitan scene characteristic of one of the city's busiest tourist areas. - Inspiration
- The exhibition is a catalog of everyday scenes, similar to those described by Jorge Luis Borges in the poem "Buenos Aires" (Elogio de la Sombra, Emece, 1969). These aspects, along with others such as the author's manuscripts and the downtown Buenos Aires scene, influenced the formal and conceptual decisions of the graphic system.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Creator Acorde & Co., Elogio: essence, 2024.
Image #2: Creator Acorde & Co., Elogio: location, 2024.
Image #3: Creator Acorde & Co., Elogio: details, 2024.
Image #4: Creator Acorde & Co., Elogio: visitors, 2024.
Image #5: Creator Acorde & Co., Elogio: craftsmanship, 2024. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Acorde & Co., 2026