Cartier

Video installation for Santos de Cartier

Alberto Santos-Dumont was the first to achieve flight of a powered airplane in Europe with his 14-bis biplane, in 1906. He built and flew many dirigibles and airplanes, gaining notoriety for flying among the Paris rooftops, sometimes even landing at a favourite café for lunch.

Still in the era of pocket watches, Santos-Dumont asked his friend Louis Cartier to design something that he could glance at whilst handling the controls of an aeroplane. In response, Cartier created the very first practical wristwatch, still produced to this day.

In celebration of the renewal of this 'Santos de Cartier' model watch, Cartier held a party in Roppongi Hills, where select local leaders of various crafts – including haute cuisine, artisan chocolate, interactive design, and musical performance – gathered to share new creations.

For this occasion, Takram was invited to create a film which begins by following the century-old path of Santos' aircraft around the Parisian sky, leading into a visualization of contemporary flight featuring actual air traffic data. Our own Planck realtime rendering framework allows us to display the near 27,000 daily departures around the globe to reveal the complexity of modern flight networks. Famous words by Santos and other aviation pioneers accompany these visuals throughout the film, offering context and inviting contemplation.