A couple of years ago our firm worked on a new 20,000-square-foot modern, flexible co-working space called Venture X located near the Arlington-Courthouse Metro in the Washington, DC metro area. The Venture X owners are this fabulous, dynamic couple with very international backgrounds. We loved working with them on this fabulous endeavor.
The Venture X offices attract entrepreneurs, business creatives and those needing a welcoming temporary office space. It’s located in the Navy League Building and therefore attracts military personnel along with business people and entrepreneurs to name a few. With the high exposed ceilings, industrial loft design and floor-to-ceiling windows, it’s a natural spot for that temporary office that many workers need these days. And I wanted Venture X to reflect the history of the area.
But here’s the cool thing about the Arlington Metro-Courthouse area – it has a lot of important history dating back from the Civil War era through WWII. During the Civil War, the area was a crucial transportation hub for Union forces. And in WWII the headquarters for the female cryptologists who deciphered enemy codes was located right down the street from the new Venture X. So giving a nod to some of this history became an intense focus for the design portion of our project. Being a bit of a history buff myself, I had to explore and creatively add these stories. I’ll actually expand on these stories in a few future blogs, but for now… let’s focus on the “Living Photographs” wallcoverings that Margery Wedderburn Interiors custom-designed and had made for the Venture X spaces.
This old Statue of Liberty Image – Look at our first picture here – we had this original image made into a custom wallcovering for a wall at the end of a long hallway at Venture X. The image is made up of over 18,000 military men. 18,000!! How could this even be a thing?? But study the bottom of the image… see the military men?
Have you ever heard of Arthur Mole? He was a well-known photographer in the early 1900’s. Mole was commissioned by the U.S. government in 1917 to provide the American public with a “visual spectacle of the nation’s pride.” It was 1917. The war was dragging on. Morale was low, both for military men and for Americans. As the war continued to rage across the globe, Mole created about 25 “Living Photographs” which became patriotic symbols. His photographic technique was similar to the Impressionist style “Pointillism,” where individual dots together comprise an image. Mole actually used members of the armed services to achieve a similar feat. When viewed from far away, his image will appear to be a united mass, but up close, one can see individual people that formed this complete picture. Each of his photos was composed of tens of thousands of uniformed personnel echoing the importance of how individuals can collectively create something great.
Above Image: We used two of Arthur Mole’s images at Venture X, and this one above shows you how the scale and detail worked. The highlighted square on the left was approximately 17.5″ x 16″ of the entire image. But look above on the left. See the detailing of each serviceman?
Remember this was 1917, before Photoshop, and before AI. Mole used visual deception to create the images. He first traced an outline of the final image he envisioned, and he placed it on a sheet of glass mounted to his camera which was atop an 80-foot tower. Then, while looking through his camera, he directed workers to nail the guide ropes to form this outline which went for a half-mile. The troops then filed in and images were taken.
Now back to the Statue of Liberty. This image above shows one of the wallcovering panels in closeup right before it was installed on the wall. I am awed by what Arthur Mole accomplished back in 1917!
Above: Our wallcovering installation team hard at work.
Study the photo for a moment: Mole’s Statue of Liberty photograph used over 18,000 military men in total and it spanned a half-mile from bottom to the top of the torch. Look at the bottom of the photo – it’s comprised of only 17 men standing in a row to form the base of the Statue of Liberty. But now look at the top of the image – this area required a staggering 12,000 people to complete the torch at the top. Can you even imagine??!! When we had this image enlarged for the custom wallcovering, we were blown away with the detailing of the military base and barracks and the old model Ford cars parked in front. Isn’t this the coolest photo ever??
We’ll be talking more about Arthur Mole and our adventures of design work at Venture X in the coming weeks.
Until then,
Stay Inspired!
Margery Wedderburn