King Abdulaziz Center brings Saudi Arabian history to life with Barco projection tech

What do the Oslo Opera House and the brand-new King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture have in common? They were both designed to make big impressions by Norway’s renowned Snøhetta architectural firm. And nothing less than ‘jaw-dropping’ would do for the grand opening of the King Abdulaziz Center on 25 November 2016. 52 Barco HDQ and HDF projectors contributed to one of the world’s most stunning projection mappings ever.

Barco solution

• HDQ-2K40 projectors
• HDF-W30 projectors

Why Barco

• Light output
• Reliability
• Flexibility

Promote cultural development in Saudi Arabia

Home to a cinema, multiple exhibition halls, a museum and a library containing over 200,000 books – among other highlights –, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture was set up to promote cultural development in Saudi Arabia. As a truly unique place, it deserved an unforgettable opening. His Royal Highness Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud himself officially inaugurated the building during an event crafted by Filmmaster MEA Events and Visual Solutions.

Superior projection, challenging surface

Visual Solutions chose 26 HDQ-2K40 and 26 HDF-W30 projectors to visualize the history of Saudi Arabia on the façade of the Center in a projection mapping created by Dirty Monitor studios of Belgium.

Familiar with Barco projectors, the AV expert strongly believes in their reliability, flexibility and incredible brightness. “The light output is phenomenal,” enthuses Jo Pauly of Visual Solutions. “No matter the projection surface, Barco HDQ projectors guarantee the industry’s most vivid colors and sharpest images.”

The challenging projection mapping was even more impressive due to the building’s tubular metal structures. The contrast between the historical story portrayed in the display and the modern design was perfectly on par with the superior contrast that our projectors provide(d).