Tate Modern : Global Cities

Pentagram/London partners Angus Hyland and William Russell are the designers behind "Global Cities," an exhibition at the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, which runs through August 27. An unusual blend of art, sociology and economics, "Global Cities" addresses the issues of size, speed, form, density and diversity as they apply to the teeming metropolises of Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo. An earlier version of the show was seen at the 10th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2006 Venice Biennale, curated by the Tate, with data supplied by the London School of Economics, and art direction by Pentagram. For this London-based version of the exhibition, which juxtaposes comparative socio-economic and geographic data with the video and photography of 20 artists and architects, London-inspired work has been commissioned from the architectural likes of Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas and Nigel Coates, among others.

The exhibition design, created by Russell, entails an elaborate two-story construction of scaffolding, which allows for reusable materials, great efficiencies in installation and a variety of dramatic perspectives; but, as Russell notes on a Pentagram blog, "perhaps most importantly, the scaffold structure is a rudimentary visual metaphor with which all city dwellers resonate." It's a structure that is "explicit about its temporary nature" and "indicative of the familiar graffiti and favela that is the reality of urban environments." As for the show's striking visual identity, Hyland, who art directed the exhibition, employed a custom-made stencil font and a palette of five core colors, one to represent each of the urban themes. The promotional posters seen here are also designed by Hyland, with design assistant Zara Moore. View more of the 2008 Creativity Award winners.