CARE x Known CARE Package Anniversary pop-up at Highline Nine, finished activation, photo 10

CARE × Known at High Line Nine — A Full Gallery Takeover, From Venue Scouting to a Box-Shaped Facade

The Brief

To mark the anniversary of the CARE Package®, CARE and its agency Known wanted a public exhibition in New York: a walk-through of nearly eight decades of humanitarian history, from the first packages in 1945 to today, where guests could pack their own care “packettes,” write a note and take a photo. The concept depended on one thing above all: the building itself had to look like a CARE Package® from the street.

We Found the Venue

Most venues won’t let you touch their facade, so the space had to be chosen around the idea. NVS scouted for venues that would allow a full exterior wrap and brought High Line Nine, a gallery space under the High Line in Chelsea, to Known. From there we were the production team for the venue: floor plans, material specifications, installation methods, run of show, insurance and every approval the venue required.

Design & Value Engineering

Working from the CARE × Known creative direction, we developed the full layout in 3D: timeline walls, plinths, packing stations, a photo room, the tent and the facade. Because CARE is a not-for-profit, we engineered every element with Known against a defined budget. The material language of AC plywood walls, exposed plywood plinths and metal tables with wood tops was warm and honest, and it put the budget into impact rather than finishes.

Built to Stay Out of DOB Filings

In a New York venue, anything attached to the building or above a certain height can trigger a Department of Buildings filing, which can add weeks. We designed around it: every wall, plinth and the tent was freestanding and under 10 feet, and we reviewed the scope with our engineer so the venue could confirm that no Alt-3 filing was needed. The tent, a real disaster-relief shelter of the kind CARE ships after emergencies, was modeled as a freestanding structure rather than suspended from the ceiling.

Every scenic material was treated with a clear fire retardant and documented with a notarized fire-retardancy certificate. We also filed a street-activity permit for the event days so the guest line could form on the sidewalk outside.

The Facade: Turning a Curved Storefront Into a Box

The facade was the most important part of the activation and the hardest. The gallery entrance is curved, but the concept called for the clean, square silhouette of a CARE Package® box. We built a freestanding beMatrix aluminum arch in front of the entrance and attached panels to it, squaring off the curves without fastening anything to the building. The full facade wrap measured roughly 50 feet wide by 14.5 feet high, printed on removable material. Because the venue is cautious about exterior coverage, we ran a 24-hour patch test before install to show the facade would come away clean.

Ten Days From Approval to Load-In

Final creative was approved by the client about ten days before access, which is a normal timeline for the pop-ups we build. We printed, fabricated and staged everything in our shop in that window. Load-in took two days inside the venue’s approved access hours. The plywood exhibition walls, plinths, beMatrix photo room and tent were assembled, then wall graphics on removable vinyl went on the walls, windows and floor.

The Exhibition

Guests stepped through the box-shaped facade into a timeline that ran decade by decade across orange and plywood walls. Inside were the “What’s Inside the Box” installation, an Emergency CARE Package® display, packing tables where guests built their own packettes from real supplies, a note-writing station and a branded photo room.

The Result

A full gallery takeover was scouted, designed, value-engineered, certified, fabricated, printed and installed by one in-house team, with the facade turned into a CARE Package® box and no building filings needed, on a ten-day production window.

What we delivered

Venue scouting: sourced High Line Nine for its facade access
Full layout and 3D design from the CARE × Known creative direction
Value engineering for a not-for-profit budget
Freestanding, under-10-foot design that avoided a DOB filing, reviewed by our engineer
Fire-retardant treatment and notarized FR certification for all scenic materials
Street-activity permit for the guest line
Freestanding beMatrix facade arch and ~50′ × 14.5′ removable facade wrap, with venue patch test
AC plywood exhibition walls and plinths
Freestanding disaster-relief tent installation
Packing stations, metal tables with wood tops, note-writing station
beMatrix photo room
Timeline graphics from 1945 to today; wall, window and floor graphics on removable vinyl
Venue production package: floor plan, specs, install methods, run of show and COI
Two-day load-in, on-site support and strike