To celebrate its 15-year history and its position as a global innovator, the Russian Copper Co. assigned Simmetrico S.r.l. with designing an extraordinary exhibit for Innoprom in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The resulting two-story stand, surveyed and contracted by Illogic S.r.l. and forged around the theme "The Future is Getting Closer," prompted one Exhibit Design Awards judge to comment, "Innoprom showgoers couldn't not check out this booth!" Entering attendees strolled through An Accelerator of the Future, a 36-foot-long passageway covered with angular arches embedded with LED video tiles, and arrived at a darkened holographic theater. A copper-clad controller at the front of the space featured an open frame that, thanks to the magic of laser projection, seemed to be filled with curls of flames and blue smoke. Once visitors stuck their hands through the faux furnace, sensors in the frame tracked their movements and enabled them to manipulate the massive 3-D animations and holographic objects appearing before them.

Led by dynamic LED strips placed in the glossy black floor, attendees walked past a massive installation of 45 track-mounted monitors that performed a graceful ballet while displaying corporate milestones and colorful graphics. Deeper in the stand, visitors stood at any of four copper pedestals whose touchscreens allowed them to select storytelling videos that were shown on floor-to-ceiling video walls. Finally, a trio of freestanding virtual-reality "binocular" stations gave attendees an immersive look at RCC's initiatives in sustainability and new technologies. "This activation sparked visitors' imaginations the most," said Andrea Fiorito, creative director at Simmetrico. "There was always a line waiting to look at the virtual worlds." It just goes to show that a little experiential alchemy can transform copper into Exhibit Design Awards gold. E