Charlotte Airport Video Wall Fuses Technology & Art

Video wall technology is profoundly transforming the modern travel experience, turning traditional wait times into times of engagement at forward-looking airports around the world — most recently at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which just completed a $200-million renovation and expansion of its Concourse A. The nine-gate, 229,807-square foot addition is the first completed project under the Destination CLT initiative, a $2.5 billion capital investment program to renovate the concourses and expand CLT’s roadways, curb front, airfield and terminal.

The Concourse A expansion features  video walls from NanoLumens®, award-winning creators of uniquely compelling LED visualization solutions in any size, shape, or curvature — and renown digital artist Refik Anadol’s unique “data sculptures” that turn the airport’s invisible patterns of data into captivating and ever-changing content featured on the three displays. This alluring installation, dubbed “Interconnected,” is a part of a total commitment by the airport to reimagine modern travel through the eyes of compelling and immersive digital experiences.

Frank Milesky of Cenero, the integration firm who from the beginning approached the video wall installation as a fusion of technology, art, and design, explained that, “The goal here was to seamlessly integrate digital artwork that reflects the movement and traffic of the airport, essentially the airport’s data culture, into the architecture of the new concourse,” Milesky explained. “This install isn’t merely about displaying content, it’s about changing the entire passenger experience at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.”

The centerpiece video wall for Interconnected sits inside the airport’s Concourse A and stretches 140-feet wide by 10-feet high. One challenge for Cenero was making sure a screen this large would display a seamless image without bezels and also handle all daytime ambient light coming in through the concourse’s many windows.

“The main display is huge, and because it is visible both inside and outside the airport the high brightness quality of the NanoLumens displays was essential here,” Cenero added. “NanoLumens was actually the perfect solution for this particular high-definition digital art content as the image quality is brilliant and seamless and it truly needed to be for the nature of the artwork.”

Cenero installed two additional displays in oddly shaped corners in the gates located at the end of Concourse A that are also visible both inside and outside the airport. The trapezoid-shaped displays measure approximately 28×15-feet in one corner and 40×19-feet in the other corner. Each of these displays also run 24-hours a day and are synchronized with the larger concourse display as each has its own distinct visual chapter.

The continuing trend of audio visual video wall technology turning the time spent at airports into a memorable part of the overall travel experience is on display in a new and exciting way at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

“This video wall installation is grabbing travelers’ attention before they even enter the airport as it is clearly visible from the parking garage and street across from the new concourse,” added NanoLumens Southeast Regional Sales Director, Arch Nelson. “We have clearly moved beyond the days of what static signage can do and this project is a perfect marriage of Refik’s amazing digital artwork and the state-of-the-art display technology from NanoLumens.”

For the over 44-million travelers that move through Charlotte Douglas International Airport annually, Refik’s Interconnected will surely leave a lasting impression.

As for the artist himself, Refik added, “The artwork being displayed is constantly changing and evolving as it responds to the ever-changing flow of data, creating a living snapshot of the invisible patterns that surrounds us as we travel to, from, and within Charlotte Douglas International Airport.