MRDN Meridien

Our new project started with an 80-tonne granite sculpture in Frankfurt. Along the way, we made a mathematical discovery. For the 40th anniversary of Max Bill’s Kontinuität, we spent months researching archives in Germany, Switzerland and Italy, studying original drawings and photographs, interviewing people involved in its creation and building interactive 3D reconstructions. And we found an answer to a question that puzzled the artist himself. Bill wanted to create a version of the famous Möbius strip, a loop with just one side and one edge. Instead, his sculpture had two sides. He admitted he didn’t understand why. Our team studied his original copper model from 1945/46, experimented with paper strips and worked with mathematicians. We established that the sculpture is one continuous band with four half-twists. Explore the discovery, follow the sculpture’s 5,000-kilometre journey from a Sardinian quarry to Frankfurt and examine our 3D models in the interactive story: https://lnkd.in/e2mzahzc

What happens when art, technology and financial markets meet in one project? At MRDN Meridien, we spend a lot of time with all three. We turn financial data into visual stories and use technology to help people explore cultural heritage. Most projects bring together two of our favourite subjects. Our next one sits in the centre of that Venn diagram. We’ve been looking forward to this. Launching next week. Stay tuned to see how it all connects.

This scene of Kefermarkt Church is a perfect example of what makes 3D Gaussian splatting so compelling. The intricate interior, complex geometry, surfaces and lighting are captured as an immersive 3D space with a sense of presence: https://lnkd.in/eb6d9kvP It was created by Christoph Schindelar, who also gave us one of our favourite explanations of why 3D Gaussian splatting matters: “Gaussian splatting unlocks what we always struggled with: cables, foliage, and transparent elements such as haze or glass. It is already impacting the industry, and the demand is rising.” In our explainer, we show how 3D Gaussian splatting works: how photographs are turned into navigable 3D scenes, from capture and alignment to optimisation and the final viewer. See it here: https://lnkd.in/eSQeaPN6

Still choosing the right title for your startup role? Ramesses II had this sorted more than 3,000 years ago: The Horus, Strong Bull Loved by Maat, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Strong in Truth is Re, Chosen of Re, Son of Re, Ramesses Loved by Amun, Loved by Ptah. It would look magnificent on a business card. Less practical on LinkedIn. For our Ramesses’ Odyssey feature, we traced the journey of his 11-metre statue from the quarry in Aswan to the Temple of Ptah in Memphis, using a map scrollytell and custom 3D models to reconstruct the world around it: https://lnkd.in/ewUQM-sd

What do we mean by “knowledge design”? A heritage building can be described in a report, photographed for an archive, or turned into a 3D scene. All useful. But do any of these truly make the subject clear? Knowledge design is how we organise the material so people can actually understand it: what comes first, what needs context, what should be visual, what should be interactive, what can be left out, and how to make a complex system something you can move through without getting lost. For our project on Dubai heritage buildings, that meant treating architecture as data. The house became a structure for explanation. Every visual, caption, transition and interaction had a job. That is the point of knowledge design: to make expertise visible and usable. See it in action: https://lnkd.in/eHnjuGcA

How much history can one statue carry? Egyptologist Susanna Thomas has spent years studying Ramesses II and recently published Ramesses, Loved by Ptah, a book centred on a single 83-tonne granite colossus. We spoke with her about why this statue matters and what makes it unusual. The interview became part of our wider Ramesses project, a way to connect expert knowledge with visual storytelling. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eV_zCJ9R