The Perelman Arts District is “where the arts happen” on the campus of Brown University. The district includes 16 venues that punctuate the urban landscape of College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island. These dynamic spaces serve formal purposes, in the academic, visual arts, and performing arts arenas, and also feature informal spaces for student gatherings. Programmatically, the venues have a cohesive identity as the core of the arts at Brown. However, they are visually separate, spread over a few square miles, and interspersed among other University buildings as well as non-University affiliated businesses, restaurants, and residences.

To ensure that the wayfinding fit seamlessly into the existing campus signage system of the University, Studio Loutsis effectively layered the new signage system onto the existing infrastructure. We positioned the square logo (designed by in-house team at Brown) --rendered in the signature Bold Red from Brown’s coat of arms--as the unifying factor. Across a range of signage typologies and numerous types of high quality materials, including steel, porcelain, glass and patented resin LIGHTBLOCKS™, the University Red squares act as the connective tissue. While we prioritized consistency, we also took a bespoke approach, strategically incorporating subtle differences among the red squares, depending on the conditions of each building, the surroundings, and the function of the signage in the broader wayfinding system.

Studio Loutsis’s team recognized that the Perelman Arts District map--the first such wayfinding system implemented across the university--provides a placemaking service to guests and students. The map design involved a complex network of stakeholders, between the university and local community. To ensure ongoing flexibility, we designed the large pylons that  display the map as a modular system that the University can easily update the map as the campus grows and evolves. The monochromatic purity of the illuminated red square on the blackened steel base creates a visually striking landmark whose colors have been part of Brown’s identity for nearly 200 years.