Mini displays inset in a wall composed of handcrafted bricks tell the story of Google’s impact across Canada.

Yellow Brick Wall is a digital artwork that pays homage to the butter yellow bricks and deco patterning that distinguishes Ontario’s modern architecture. Concepted by design studio SOSO, the artwork’s 85 embedded mini displays tell stories about Canada’s art, culture, and unique geography. By navigating a touchscreen integrated into the wall visitors to Google’s Toronto Event Space can select the content they would like to see displayed. SOSO reached out to Patten Studio to prototype and develop the Yellow Brick Wall concept, and ultimately to produce and integrate the artwork into Google’s Toronto offices at 65 King East.

The artwork’s 85 mini displays each contain a QLED display and a Raspberry Pi encased in a ventilated 3D printed enclosure. Patten Studio firmware written in C++ allows the Raspberry Pis to communicate with SOSO’s graphics software, which controls the wall’s content. 

Each assembly has a single CAT6 connection that transits data and Power over Ethernet across the wall. Content on the displays is navigated using a touchscreen integrated into the far right of the wall. Upon installation, all custom electronic components used in Yellow Brick Wall were assessed for UL compliance, in accordance with Google standards.

Bricks were hand crafted out of a local clay body using a slab method. Patten worked closely with Toronto ceramicist Filipa Pimentel to meet the wall’s strict dimensional criteria, accounting for two cycles of clay “shrinkage” during drying and firing. Nine different Master Bricks were formed and fired, then cut using a wet saw to create a total of 18 unique derivatives, meeting a +/-1mm tolerance. These derivatives were epoxied to plywood panels to create 24 varieties of brick modules that fit together like a puzzle. The modules are bolted or z-clipped onto a steel and plywood wall structure, and can be removed or replaced with ease, complying with the client’s request to create a brick wall without mortar. Collectively, 995 handmade bricks make up 299 brick modules in 24 distinct assemblies to form Yellow Brick Wall’s elaborate patterning. 

Patten Studio worked closely with the general contractor Govan Brown and architect iN STUDIO to coordinate the artwork’s integration into the space. As a freestanding structure, Yellow Brick Wall is engineered to support its full weight of 4,000lb. A steel frame is clad with two layers of fire rated plywood, to which the 85 LED mini displays, 1 touchscreen, and 299 brick modules are attached. Brick modules are bolted on to the front and left faces of the wall, and slid on using z-clips on the right face of the wall to account for a structural beam behind the artwork. Leveling feet attached to the steel support structure allow the frame to be raised up into the ceiling soffit to create the impression that the artwork stretches up indefinitely.

Surmounting the artwork’s unique design challenges and global supply chain shortages of clay and material components, Patten produced Yellow Brick Wall to bring SOSO’s vision for Google’s Event Space to life. Patten partnered with AMDI to install Yellow Brick Wall in Google’s Toronto offices in Spring of 2024.