Past window displays

Our window display changes at least once a year, with each one providing a unique artistic interpretation of what we do.

Click through the gallery below to find out about our window displays from September 2004 to July 2013.

You can also watch videos relating to 'Reflex' (our 2011 display) and 'Co-existence' (our 2009 display).

A full gallery showing several images from the major project displayed in our windows from February 2010 to March 2011, 'WHAT IF…', is also available.

Memory Trace, June 2012-July 2013

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Delicately sculpted from historical illustrations of the brain found in the collections of the Wellcome Library, Chong Kwan's landscape presents a sinuously beautiful account of the city. By featuring landmarks used by taxi drivers as navigational points, the artist links the capital's urban topography with connections generated by memory.

‘Memory Trace’ is inspired by the research of Professor Eleanor Maguire of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL, which shows that the process of acquiring 'the Knowledge' - the complex layout of central London's 25 000 streets - causes structural changes in the brains of taxi drivers.

The Treasures of Henry Wellcome, April 2011-May 2012

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Designed by Shaz Madani, this installation featured photographs taken by Thom Atkinson of 75 objects from Henry Wellcome’s vast and eclectic collection. Beaded turtles, a mechanical vibrator, a shrunken head: it would be difficult to find a more eclectic selection of items.

The photographs, which were originally commissioned by the ‘Financial Times Weekend Magazine’ for a feature marking the 75th anniversary of the Wellcome Trust, have been used to create a startling window installation celebrating Henry Wellcome’s life and legacy.

WHAT IF… Dunne and Raby, February 2010-March 2011

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Each display featuresd six different projects created by students, graduates and staff from the Design Interactions department at the Royal College of Art, each offering an alternative view of how science could influence our future. The display was updated every few months. The purpose was not to offer predictions but to inspire debate about the human consequences of different technological futures, both positive and negative, by asking ‘what if’?

Cat Fancy Club: Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope

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What if… cat breeders were seen as scientists?

“Everything you need to know about genetics you can learn from your cat” - Leslie Lyons PhD, Associate Professor at the Genetics Laboratory, University of California, Davis.

Cats are now the UK’s most popular pet. In addition to the millions of moggies we own there are also increasingly diverse pedigree breeds. Demonstrating a fascinating mix of scientific knowledge and creative experimentation, breeders have an acute alertness to the aesthetic requirements of their chosen breed, underpinned by the genetic knowledge to breed safely towards the refinement of particular characteristics. Some breeders already use genetic testing and collaborate with scientists, bridging the traditional gap between amateur and professional science and providing a flow of information between these two worlds.

Nuclear Dialogues: Zoe Papadopoulou, 2010

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What if...local communities informed public policy?

This project aims to deal with the contentious area of nuclear fission by choosing an open, non-judgemental environment, designed for dialogue rather than dispute.

The inviting setting of a tea party allows for engaging discussion about the technology and its by-products, predominantly excess heat and hot water. Rather than imposing solutions, the discussion encourages suggestions as to how by-products can benefit communities living in close proximity to the reactors.

Participation is encouraged through a tasting of ‘yellowcake’ - a colloquialism for uranium oxide U3O8, an essential ingredient in the preparation of uranium fuel for nuclear reactors. The designer, along with scientists from Nuclear FiRST, devised a recipe for an edible yellowcake, using ingredients that contain radioactive isotopes, to challenge entrenched viewpoints and misunderstandings of risk.

The Cloud Project: Zoe Papadopoulou and Cathrine Kramer, 2009

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What if...clouds were geo-engineered to snow ice cream?

Developments in nanotechnology and planetary-scale engineering point to new possibilities for us to manipulate the global environment according to our needs. These advances, combined with a dream to make clouds snow ice cream, inspired a series of experiments that look at ways to alter the composition of clouds to make new and delicious sensory experiences. Using ice cream as a catalyst for dialogue, the project’s focus is to welcome people into a ‘nano’ ice cream van and allow new audiences to experience and imagine emerging scientific developments and their consequences.

Co-existence by Julia Lohmann, February 2009-January 2010

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‘Co-existence’ consists of 9000 petri dishes brightly illuminated with colours and designs that form the shape of two naked women lying head-to-head. It has been created by Julia Lohmann, a multidisciplinary designer interested in unusual and undervalued natural and manmade materials.

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Inspired by the unseen universe of microbes that inhabit our bodies, Lohmann has produced pixellated images of colonies of the most common species, which appear in the bases of the petri dishes. The positioning of each microbe within the artwork shows the part of the body in which it most commonly lives.

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Julia Lohmann explains: “It’s been really fascinating delving into the science behind our bodies. When I started work on the project, I did not realise that we are hosts to such a vast number of species of microbe. We decided to use the female form as females contain a greater variety of microbes than males.”

Paul Cocksedge, December 2007-February 2009

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We commissioned one of the UK’s most prolific designers, Paul Cocksedge, to produce a major display to illuminate Euston Road. The dramatic display shows arms stretching across the full length of building.

Using a unique electronic material that allows light to pass through it, but with a flick of a switch can stop the light, the magic skin covering the arms disappears to reveal veins and arteries inside the arms, which have been translated into glass neon tubes.

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One of the hands is intentionally pointing to the building next door, drawing attention to the recently launched Wellcome Collection, a public venue that explores the relationship between medicine, life, art and history. James Peto, Senior Curator at Wellcome Collection, commented: “The challenge was to create a window design that in the simplest of terms gets across a message about the Wellcome Trust.”

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Paul Cocksedge commented: “I am keen to engage with those passers-by who are not familiar with the work of the Trust, and also to show the relationship between two buildings that are architecturally distinct from one another. The reference to the human body is a symbol of medical research, all be it an obvious one. I am keen to show how making the skin become invisible reveals the workings of the arms, similar to an X-ray. The intention is that people walking along busy Euston Road will, for a moment in time, consider their own bodies and walk away with a clear association between imagery and the Wellcome Trust.”

Graphic Thought Facility, December 2006-December 2007

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Graphic Thought Facility produced a striking neon artwork depicting proteins related to deadly diseases, acting as a bittersweet reminder of the devastation of serious medical conditions.

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Proteins play a key part in how our bodies interact with disease. The Structural Genomics Consortium, which the Wellcome Trust part-funds, has had a crucial role in identifying the structure of some important proteins related to human disease, including cancer, HIV, obesity and malaria. Understanding the structures offers potential targets for novel drugs to treat these conditions.

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London design team Graphic Thought Facility constructed a colourful and thought-provoking display depicting a number of these proteins in bright neon signs that are attracting the attention of busy onlookers. Paul Neale, Director of Graphic Thought Facility, said: “It is the first time we have experimented with neon on this scale, and the results are impressive. We have worked closely with the Wellcome Trust to understand the nature of these proteins. It’s difficult to comprehend how something so beautiful can represent such serious conditions.”

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Graphic Thought Facility’s display related to biomedical issues of global significance where Wellcome Trust-funded research is making a difference. The display, unveiled in December 2006, marked the beginning of an exciting period of development on Euston Road, which saw the launch of the Trust’s first public venue - Wellcome Collection - in summer 2007.

Timorous Beasties, November 2005-November 2006

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Scottish textile designers Timorous Beasties created this installment for the windows of the Trust’s headquarters. The prestigious commission was yet another initiative from the Trust engaging the public with science through art in a highly visible location passed by thousands of people every day.

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Timorous Beasties’ designs, inspired by the Wellcome Trust’s work on the human genome and malaria, included 48 lamp shades featuring tsetse flies, paisley patterns made from germs, argyle checks made from syringes and other motifs featuring veins and human fetuses. These hung as a double helix, mimicking the shape of DNA, spanning the full height of the 5 metre high windows.

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A specially commissioned lace ‘mosquito net’, the most basic defence against malaria, hung behind the lamps. The lace featured a delicate pattern made from interwoven mosquitoes, microscopes and syringes. It was produced for Timorous Beasties by Morton Young and Borland, which owns and runs the only remaining lace-making machine capable of producing 5 metre repeats.

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Once Were Farmers, a young Scottish animation company, created four films to complement the window displays. These were projected onto the pavement in front of the windows, drawing attention to the installation. They also took images from the Wellcome Trust collections that relate to the designs by Timorous Beasties.

Doshi Levien, September 2004-November 2005

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Doshi Levien created a series of three window displays, each consisting of a stage set, with a secondary window conveying supportive and provocative words and statements. The displays were created using a ‘pop-up book’ format with tilted perspective, featuring larger-than-life props and specially commissioned objects. In their potent interpretation of our mission statement and objectives, Doshi Levien drew on the full range of the Trust’s rich history, from Henry Wellcome’s historical collections through to the cutting-edge biomedical research that we fund today.

Sanger Kitchen, June-November 2005

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The set window was a kitchen-set-come-laboratory referring to the work of the Sanger Institute and issues relating to the human genome. On the yellow tiled wall, there was a diagram of Mendel’s law of dominance, with the chromosomes that have been sequenced by the Sanger Institute scattered on the floor. The window also included a ‘shelf of life’, tools that represented the DNA bases, and bottles that highlighted alternative systems of medicine.

Recipe Book of Life, June-November 2005

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The second window referred to the genome often being called the ‘recipe book of life’, continuing the kitchen theme.

Café Wellcome, February-June 2005

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’Café Wellcome’ used a combination of product and painting to communicate ideas about curiosity and the funding activities of the Wellcome Trust. The tabletops were spinning zoetropes with animations inside. The ‘Wellcome specials’ menu board displayed a selection of the projects funded by the Trust. The newspaper was the ‘Financially Independent Times’ and the lab experiment on the wall represented the five funding activities of the Trust: special initiatives, biomedical science, medical humanities, public engagement and technology transfer.

Curiosity Funding, February-June 2005

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The text-based window underlined the main objective of the Trust: to fund exceptional research. It also conveyed our independent charity status.

Wellbeing Centre, September 2004-January 2005

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Based on the theme of health and wellbeing, this window revealed both the legacy of the Trust and our current objectives. Some of the inspiration here came from the book and exhibition Medicine Man: The Forgotten Museum of Henry Wellcome.

How Are You?, September 2004-January 2005

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The second window in the set placed emphasis on an otherwise casual question. The surrounding text offered the various nuances of “How are you?”, allowing readers to interpret this question in their own way. For instance, “How is work?”, “How content are you?”, “Are you eating well?”, “Tell me, how do you feel?” or “How is your heart and your soul?”

March 2011-February 2012: Reflex

'Reflex' - our 2001 installation by rAndom International - inhabited the Wellcome Trust's windows as though it were a living organism. By reacting to passers-by it invited a physical response to the building.

The installation's swarming behaviour was based on an algorithm developed to emulate the collective decision making that we see in large groups of creatures such as birds or ants.

Running time: 1 min 1 s

2009: Co-existence

This time-lapse video shows the creation of ‘Co-existence’ and includes a voiceover from the artist, Julia Lohmann.

Running time: 3 min 45 s