Cartier at Tank Shanghai — Cartier Santos de Cartier Watch Experien (2018)

Tank Shanghai hosted Cartier's Santos de Cartier watch experience, an immersive exhibition using AR and VR to trace the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont.

The venue

Tank Shanghai is an art center in Shanghai's West Bund cultural district, on Longteng Avenue. Its exhibition spaces sit within a converted industrial complex and are normally used for contemporary art shows, installations and cultural events. The venue provides large, flexible galleries that can hold both object displays and media-based presentations, with a location that draws art and design audiences.

How the space was used

During the Cartier project, the galleries were arranged as a route from an AR-recreated early twentieth-century Paris to a contemporary Shanghai section. Displays included a model of Santos-Dumont's 14bis aircraft and a participatory station where visitors made their own flying machines for projection on a nearby screen. VR experiences and watch displays continued the exhibition, with visitor entry managed through advance reservations and on-site queues.

Why it works here

Tank Shanghai suits immersive brand exhibitions because its art galleries can support projection, AR, VR and object display without the constraints of a retail unit. The West Bund setting places the project within a cultural district, and the art-center context gives a watch heritage story room to be experienced as an exhibition rather than a shop.