1500 Pins and a World of Stories at Centre for Newcomers
More than 1,500 pins now sit on a 15-foot map at the Centre for Newcomers in Calgary.
Each pin marks a home country. Each pin belongs to someone who watched Team Canada make history at a FIFA World Cup watch party and found a place to say “This is where I come from.”
We installed the map on Friday at the Centre for Newcomers headquarters in Calgary. The piece was built for one clear purpose: representation.
The Centre for Newcomers commissioned the map for its World Cup watch parties, in collaboration with The City of Calgary, Explore Downtown YYC, Calgary Wild FC, Cavalry FC, and Calgary Minor Soccer Association. The mission was to create the largest and most inclusive map we've ever made. It needed to be built for 2 purposes; Event activation and final display at The Centre for Newcomers in Calgary, AB.
The result is a massive Geo Optic Map filled with markers from every corner of the globe. It's part event feature, part welcoming artwork, part record of the people who help make Calgary what it is.
Watch the install video here:
The brief was clear from the start
The Centre for Newcomers needed a large-scale map for the FIFA World Cup watch parties in Calgary through June and July, 2026. The function was simple: guests would pin their home country into the cork map designed and created by Wanderlust Creatures and their small team of creatives in Calgary.
The map also had to reflect the reach of Calgary’s communities in a warm and familiar way. It had to work for a plaza full of people during a high-energy event, and most importantly, it had to hold up to public safety guidelines.
A 15-foot map is not a small piece... It becomes part of the space. At that scale, every decision matters. The visual style needed to be clear from a distance. The map needed enough detail for people to find their countries. It needed enough structure and reinforcement to stay safe as more and more pins were added.
The surface had to accept pins, so we leaned into our main material, Portuguese Cork. The backing had to support repeat interaction, so we used premium Canadian lumber and reinforced it with slotted channel steel. The piece had to sit securely on the wall after the 3 events it attended, and the installation had to look finished once we walked away.
A map like this is a snapshot of a proud moment for Canadians, and what a more fitting place to display it for all to see, then The Centre for Newcomers.
Scale changes the experience
At 15 feet wide, the map has presence.
Size is not only a design choice, It changes how people behave around a piece.
A small map asks people to lean in, but a large map lets people gather. It creates room for groups, families, staff, volunteers, and guests to stand together.
Guests could approach it alone or with others. Parents could show children where their family came from, or who Team Canada is up against this match. Friends could compare pins. Someone could point to one country, then another, then explain the path that brought them to Calgary.
More than 1,500 pins now cover the map. They reach across continents, islands, borders, coastlines, and places that may be far apart on paper but close together in a city like Calgary.
That number is not decoration. It's evidence of natural participation in an event activation with no instruction needed. It gave every guest the same invitation:
Find home. Place a pin. Represent yourself.
Why an interactive piece works for civic and community events
Event activation designed and catered to the audience
Community open houses
Corporate inclusion events
School and campus welcome events
Tourism and destination activations
Citizenship ceremonies
Sporting events + Concerts
To learn more about how The Centre for Newcomers helps individuals and families adjust to life in Canada, offer employment services, language training, and community youth, family, and mental health programs, visit their beautiful office in Northgate Mall or visit them online:
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