150 Years at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A two-screen archival film installation created for Making The Met, 1870–2020, the landmark exhibition celebrating The Metropolitan Museum of Art's 150th anniversary.
The Challenge
The film needed to tell the story of 150 years of architectural change without overwhelming visitors with historical detail. Sitting within one of the world's most prestigious museums, it also needed a visual language that felt timeless, understated and respectful of the collection around it.
Rather than creating a conventional historical timeline, the ambition was to transform The Met's own archives into a cinematic experience that revealed how the museum had continually evolved over time.
Creative Response
Working closely with museum curators and historians, we explored hundreds of archival drawings, architectural plans and historic photographs spanning 150 years of The Met's history.
As we immersed ourselves in the material, the creative concept naturally emerged. Rather than simply presenting the archives, the film would feel as though it was built from them, with drawings and documents unfolding like sheets of paper to reveal each new chapter in the museum's evolution.
Alongside the archival material, we collaborated with a team of 3D artists to reconstruct earlier phases of the museum using original architectural plans, allowing visitors to experience historic spaces as they once appeared.
Combining archival storytelling with contemporary motion design created a visual language that felt both timeless and modern, transforming a complex architectural history into a clear and engaging narrative.
