Bridges is an urban scale project that seeks to bring the wonder of the night sky back to the people of Chicago. I intend to install nearly a thousand special high powered lights that would be installed into the bed of the Chicago River between the Michigan Ave Bridge to the State Street Bridge. These lights would be programmed to actively reflect the actual celestial bodies as they would appear above if one could see beyond the glow Chicago’s lights. The site I chose is in the heart of the city, and is the most scenic part of the a city that has many, this is precisely why I chose it. Here the people of Chicago and tourists alike come to marvel the world class architecture looming above the Chicago River crisscrossed by the many storied bridges of this town. And below these, I would place the stars. I do not think to compete with the sites existing beauty but rather provide a focal point for contemplation and meditation that speaks to a universe beyond.
Bridges is an urban scale project that seeks to bring the wonder of the night sky and stars to the people of Chicago. The project encompasses a thousand powerful lights, installed in the bed of the Chicago River, and programmed to actively reflect the actual celestial bodies that would appear above if one could see beyond the glow of the metropolis.
To aid in the project proposal, I designed a number of illustrations to help explain the general concept and perhaps the magic.
I aslo built a physical model of the site in Chicago where the work is intended to be installed. I used several hundred fiber optic strands to simulate the pulsing lights beneath the waters surface. It was pretty effective to be honest.
The full model on display in the Richard Grey Gallery, Chicago, IL.
An image of the fiber optic strands beneath the model's river.
Artist Jaume Plensa, the creator of the Crown Fountain in Chicago, discussing the work.
Yours truly talking about the work with Chicago city officals and other guests and colleagues.
This is what I look like!
Invitation to the exhibition where my proposal among others were introduced to the public.
