The Sunset Spectacular Digital Billboard Is a Fusion of Art, Architecture and Advertising

Even if you’ve never personally set foot in New York’s Time Square or West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, you know how important billboards are to both locations. You’ve seen them in pictures, TV shows or films. They’re iconic. As part of West Hollywood’s plan to revitalize and update the history of outdoor advertising on the Sunset Strip, they held a design competition to build the billboard of the future. Tom Wiscombe Architecture and advertising company Orange Barrel Media beat out the likes of Zaha Hadid and Gensler with Sunset Spectacular. Sunset Spectacular is over sixty feet tall and made up of over 70 prefabricated stainless steel components (some weighing up to 35,000lbs) that, when combined, create a sculptural piece reminiscent of the Aggro Crag from Nickelodeon’s Guts. Two sides are covered in enormous digital screens that are primarily used for advertising purposes, but as part of the deal, the screens will also display unique works from emerging and internationally recognized artists. This is a billboard worth traveling to visit.