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Oct 11, 2021

Chicago, IL

Oct 11, 2021

Chicago, IL

As part of a year-long celebration in 2009 of architect Daniel Burnham, who designed the first Master Plan for the city of Chicago, world-renowned architects Ben van Berkel of Amsterdam and Pritzker Prize Laureate Zaha Hadid of London created two temporary pavilions honoring the historic figure.

Van Berkel’s square design references, at first glance, the orthogonal setup of the city and park grid itself. As the two squares float, one above the other, they are joined and intersected by three curving eye-like forms. Taken in tandem with the original city Master Plan, this structure recalled the relationship to the existing rigid grid of city geometry, but it also introduced a floating and multi-directional space. The eye-like openings invited looks through them, soliciting visitors to gaze at a city skyline they have seen time and time again in a new light. Lighting, indeed, would be an incredibly important consideration for the shiny and white-hued structure, with Iluminarc provided by Iluminarc architectural fixtures.

Lighting Director Tracey Dear of Dear Productions selected LED Iluminarc lights, citing both their cost and reliability as reasons for his choice. “The budget, all raised through donations, was a huge concern,” he said, speaking to the need for such projects to use their funds wisely.

The lighting designer specified 72 Iluminarc fixtures and was delighted by their performance over the course of the year-long installation. “We used some special diffusion to spread the light more and to hide the source, we are very, very satisfied,” he said. He added that the color palette of the lights was inspired by the pastels used in Burnham’s Plan of Chicago document.

The lights themselves were embedded in the floor of the pavilion, and Iluminarc the fluid forms of the structure in between the two horizontal levels of podium and roof. Deepening the interactive nature of the installation, the lighting responded interactively to the presence of visitors, triggering changes in hue and intensity depending on where people were standing.

“The base and roof of the pavilion appear to float,” said Emily Harris, executive director of Chicago Metropolis 2020. At the time of the installation, more than two years of planning the celebration had been completed. She was also complementary of the Iluminarc lights, which were programmed by Chicago artist Daniel Sauter, calling the effect on the stark white pavilion “spectacular.”