Samsung places Giant Phones at Airports

The first-phase consisted of installing hand sculptures at 21 airports across the world, beginning at France’s Charles De Gaulle international airport in 2002. Since then, the hand sculpture has established itself as “artwork in airports," receiving much praise and was the recipient of an award in the Outdoor Promotions category of the Technology Marketing Award at CTIA WIRELESS 2006.

Samsung kicks off the second-phase of the sculpture initiative with the recent installation of its new hand sculpture at the center of Taipei, Taiwan. Samsung plans to have new installations at the gateways of international airports around the world, including Hong Kong, Cairo of Egypt, and Istanbul of Turkey.

The second phase hand sculpture reaches up to 50 feet in height. The mobile screen on the new sculptures will feature LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) to feature a variety of information, such as time, temperature, video displays, and messages. Vibrant colors add an artistic touch to the hand itself to represent and capture the difference in humans, and the colors come together to represent unity as the fingers come together to cradle the phone. This conveys Samsung’s broader philosophy that separation and differences between people will be unified through communication.

The sculpture is in association with the world famous artist Frederic Bruly Bouabre, an artist of Ivory Coast, and his artwork “Generous Hand in Rainbow Colors." The piece shows the balance between art and function as an effective outdoor marketing tool. His drawing has been published in Samsung Electronics’ global image advertisements on Fortune magazine.

In addition to Bouabre, Samsung will also showcase a hand sculpture using the artwork of Jan Lawrence, an environmental designer who creates a unique style by merging Easter and Western cultures and values. Lawrence’s dynamic and curved structure points up towards the sky, symbolizing Samsung mobiles’ drive for the future and their role as a path for communication.

“The second-phase hand sculpture represents our determination in bringing people together through communication." said Kitae Lee, president of Samsung’s Telecommunication Network Business. “We will continue to introduce the hand sculptures in association with world-renowned artists to show our vision to create a mobile gateway that connects the user and the world through a mobile phone,"

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