Publishing House Experience
Boston, MA
What does it mean to truly see the world? And how do history and belief shape what we value and act on?
KEY INFO
Client
The First Church of Christ, Scientists
Scale
21,000 sqft / 1950 sqm
Partners
Available Light, Creative Technologies, Ravenswood Studio, SH Acoustics, Winikur Productions
Concept
At Boston’s Christian Science Plaza, the Publishing House and Mapparium experience invites visitors into those questions, using a historic landmark to explore how personal perspective connects to global understanding. The experience welcomes students, families, tourists, and members of the Christian Science community. Everyone arrives with a different relationship to the place. We designed for all of them.
“Designed to spark curiosity, raise thought-provoking questions, and inspire deep, critical thinking about how we can cultivate progress locally and globally.”
TFCCS
The building and Mapparium
Balancing reverence with renewal shaped every decision. We treated the building itself as the first artifact: preserve the landmark’s character, then weave in the layers that carry it forward. In the Welcome Hall, contemporary projection, circadian lighting, and an original score thread through the classical architecture, calibrated to the building rather than pasted onto it. We hid the projectors behind faux stone slabs. Visitors feel the light without ever seeing the source.
Then comes the Mapparium itself: three stories of inside-out stained glass, the world frozen as it appeared in 1935. Visitors cross a glass bridge through the center of the planet, continents glowing around them, as a new audio-and-light experience puts an unchanging map into conversation with a constantly changing world. The globe doesn’t move. The viewer does. That’s the point.
Observation, context and compassion
Beyond the globe, we drew on stories from The Christian Science Monitor and pages from the Mary Baker Eddy Library to build a sequence on observation, context, and compassion. Smart-glass vitrines hold the originals while digital animations turn fragile pages in the visitor’s hands. The originals are too delicate to touch; the animations come close enough to feel real.
Contemplation
The journey lands at a contemplative installation where visitors leave reflections for the next person to find. Understanding, made collective.
Every sense engaged. Every step earned. Visitors leave seeing the world from the inside out, convinced that how we see it is how we move through it.
