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This article was originally published in Metropolis Magazine, Q&A with Michael Luck Schneider

At the upcoming Digital Signage Expo (February 26-28) in Las Vegas, there will be a lot of talk about integrating electronic media into the designed environment. On the 26th, at a full-day session called “New Design Directions: Dynamic Digital Environments,” Michael Luck Schneider, senior designer at ESI in New York will discuss, in some detail, the collaborative effort it took to create the Dream Cube in Shanghai. I asked him about how his global team worked together as they communicated between Cologne to Sydney to Beijing and points between; and the ways and means of systems design. In my previous interviews on the topic of media-rich environments, panelist Paul R. Levy, president and CEO of Philadelphia’s Center City, talked about the use of digital media in the large-scale urban environment; Jeff Kovel, AIA, principal at Skylab Architecture in Portland, Oregon, discussed his firm’s experience in building Camp Victory for Nike. Here we dig down into ESI’s interactive spectacular, designed, as Schneider says, to “demonstrate the power of collaboration in shaping a more sustainable future.”

It’s hard to believe, but six months and 73 million visitors later, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo came to a close today, and we are having a tough time saying goodbye to our dream project, the Shanghai Corporate Pavilion (affectionately known as the Dream Cube for being the carrier of people’s dreams for the future of Shanghai).

We braved the sea of last-minute Expo visitors this week to give our last round of tours, attend closing ceremonies and explore what’s next for ESI in China. A testament to our incredible design and production team, including PRG (systems integrator), Spinifex (media production), Full Flood (lighting) and Pico (fabrication), the Dream Cube looked as fresh, and operated as efficiently, as it did when it opened in May.  And the message—that a more sustainable future can only be co-created through collective action—is more resonant than ever as it will take a huge collaborative effort to evolve the Expo site after next week.