Iconic Multimedia At Moynihan Train Hall | 2020-2021

Designers: Moment Factory, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

NYC’s new transportation hub reinvents an architectural icon, creating a world-class destination that charms travelers with the magic of experiential multimedia.

As part of New York’s major upgrade to the transportation infrastructure at Pennsylvania Station, America’s busiest transit hub, the city’s cherished Farley Post Office Building has been transformed into the new Moynihan Train Hall. To bring this reinvention to life, Empire State Development invited Moment Factory to collaborate on key media features that bring back the wonder of travel while entertaining both daily commuters and travelers from afar.
Within the station’s concourse, our team developed a multimedia content strategy, as well as 7 animated capsules designed to welcome visitors and daily commuters alike. Each scene is an homage to the romance of travel and the history of the site, evoking a sense of adventure and an opportunity to see the world around. Those distinct visuals also highlight the vibrancy of New York city and NY State, the history of the iconic building, it’s unique architecture and the natural beauty of the state at large.

Across 4 LED screens, 56 x 4 meters long, a mixture of ambient and event content highlight scenes from across New York City and State as well as within the walls of the building. Our goal was to create an iconic New York experience, echoing the diversity and dynamism of the state and its natural beauty.

Ambient capsules showcase illustrated panoramas of the Hudson Valley in autumn, or harken back to black-and-white archival footage from the mid-20th century. To bring the past into the present, we were also inspired by the site’s former function as a post office, and used this place-memory to create a fantastical, animated capsule that takes everyone “behind the scenes” into a hidden, mechanical world.

Including an identity look that mimics the iconic ceiling with shifting glass panes, and transitional moments inspired by the rippling texture of old-fashioned departure boards, a full day of animated content ebbs and flows with the travelers themselves.