Cactus Design – Connected Architecture, Experiential Design

Cactus co-founder, Noah Waxman. Photography courtesy of Cactus.

I was recently introduced to Cactus, a new form of hybrid design studio. The studio was conceived from the get-go to capitalize on the varied backgrounds of its three founding partners. Branding consultant Noah Waxman, digital innovator Lucas Werthein, and architect Marcelo Pontes came together just over three years ago because they believe physical space and digital space are converging and that the convergence will continue to grow over the coming decades. So they organized the studio with equal parts architects and designers for the built environment, digital designers – back-end and front-end developers and coders who create things in digital space and marketing/branding strategists.

In its literature Cactus describes itself as, “an experiential design studio that creates work at the intersection of physical architecture and digital technology. The studio works for

Cactus co-founder, Lucas Werthein

visionary clients across a range of industries including media, fitness, medicine, entertainment, automotive and financial services. All client work is united by one objective – to imagine, design, and build what is next.”

“Part architecture studio, part software engineering firm, part innovation consultancy, Cactus is a first-of-its-kind hybrid. We design and build new experiences, products and services. We take pride in our ability to work with visionary clients in uncharted territories. And unlike a typical agency or consultancy, our work process extends from pre-concept strategy, through design, production and all the way to successful launch in the real world.”

Cactus co-founder, Marcelo Pontes

In a recent interview, Mr. Waxman said, “We believe that digital space and physical space are converging already and will continue to converge over the next few decades to the point where the rooms, buildings and cities we inhabit will be transformed and informed by the content and data that the digital devices in our lives collect. We believe the spaces we live in will be able to collect information about our preferences and interests and pass that off to digital experiences we’re having on our devices and on screens and in our rooms.”

The Museum of Me is a product Cactus developed that illustrates this thinking. A modular and scalable structure, the Museum of Me can be deployed as a temporary exhibit or permanent installation. A user gives the Museum of Me access to his or her Instagram handle and an AI algorithm develops the digital contents of the Instagram account into a two-minute kaleidoscopic collage displayed on myriad screens that surround the user. Here’s a link to the Museum of Me concept video.

A Museum of Me installation.

From Cactus’ website: “Physical and digital spaces are converging. More and more, rooms will be able to react to us and digital experiences will happen at architectural scale. We founded Cactus because we are excited about that convergence.”

Cactus’ work units usually include user experience design, software development, hardware development, brand strategy, architectural design, furniture and object design, business design, video and animation.

Lab 100, a recently completed project at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City illustrates how these elements can be brought together to enhance and greatly improve the experience we all have on occasion – a trip to the doctor. When one checks in at Lab100 the usual medical history and “paperwork” are collected digitally. The results of tests are saved digitally and then during the consultation phase of the visit all the data gathered is displayed digitally and interactively, providing a much more satisfying, holistic approach to a visit to the doctor. Here’s a link to an excellent video in which the Today Show’s Savannah Guthrie visits Lab100 (sorry about the commercial, but the video is worth it).

At Mount Sinai’s Lab 100. the patient provides background health information. (A model acting as a patient).
Data from testing equipment is gathered.
Data from the usual medical tests is added.
The doctor uses interactive digital media to discuss findings.

Another example of Cactus’ design and implement approach can be found at La Concha Renaissance Resort in the heart of Puerto Rico’s hottest locale, Condado, San Juan. Hired to enhance the experience at Fifty Eight, a club in the resort, Cactus built a “Cubic Sky” consisting of 300 separate ceiling panels designed and built specifically for the project. Software designed by Cactus generates changing light patterns, colors and intensities across the custom frames, lights and covers. The software visualizes the data in meaningful ways using a combination of graphic design, computer algorithms and animation.

The experience provided by Cubic Sky evolves throughout the day. While the sun is in the sky above San Juan, the light panels cycle through a natural palette of colors and visual designs that mimic the clouds passing by – evoking the natural beauty of San Juan. In the early evening, the colors of the sunset from that day are reflected by the light colors and patterns on the ceiling. At night, the ceiling reacts to the music playing below, using inputs from the audio system. DJs, artists and hosts are able to control the light patterns and create unique, ephemeral experiences for the hotel guests.

“Cubic Sky was a demonstration of the possibilities that are available when custom design is paired with deep architectural and technological capabilities,” said Cactus’ co-founder, Lucas Werthein. “Hotel guests now can access a dynamic experience that is deeply rooted in the geographical aspects of San Juan that they came to enjoy, enhancing an already beautiful experience.”

Cubic Sky at La Concha Renaissance Resort in San Juan, PR.
Cubic Sky is transformed when the club, Fifty Eight is in full club-mode.
Cubic Sky in sunset mode.
Cubic Sky in mid-day mode.

When Beyoncé was asked to perform at the United Nations Humanitarian Day, Cactus was hired by RSA Films to be part of a collaborative effort to create the visual backdrop for her performance. As you might expect, the result was spectacular. Here is a link to the Cactus website and a video that features a quick peek into how the project was built and then on to the performance (the video is a short scroll down from where the page opens).

The General Assembly hall at the UN, prior to the Beyoncé performance.

In the design of workplaces there is an undeniable trend away from “my father’s office” and toward workplaces that are fun, interesting, branded, more relaxed – places where employees and company visitors “experience” the personality and culture of the company. Increasingly design firms are being asked by their corporate clients to create experiential workplaces that will help them attract and retain top talent and hopefully inspire innovative thinking among their employees.

The opportunity to enhance the “experiential design” of offices, corporate headquarters and manufacturers’ showrooms using the vast possibilities offered by digital tech seems obvious. But for many firms the growing demand for such experiential design is a source of angst. Even some interior design firms with amazing talent and experience in designing efficient and effective workplaces don’t feel confident about the technical challenges of creating exciting branded experiences that bring physical features together with state-of-the-art digital components.

Whether you’re a manufacturer looking for a bold new experiential showroom or a design firm with a forward-thinking client, a collaboration with Cactus could be the answer if you need a partner with tremendous capability in digital-tech married to a background in branding strategy and architecture. In our interview Mr. Waxman said, “Our clients should hire us when they have big new ideas but they’re not sure how to bring them to life. Or when they have questions they’re trying to ask about what experiences in their physical spaces should be like. Then we work with them to advance those questions and advance that thinking while providing the technical expertise in architecture and software development from the beginning to come up with what’s possible.”

A project currently in development, Digital Mist is a virtual feature installation for a retail environment.
Another project in development, Southern Lights.