CS Interiors: An Otherworldly Welcome

MOODY BLUES Colored lighting sets the tone for

exploration at the Adler's new Welcome Gallery.

The Adler Planetarium has had folks stargazing since 1930, but when you enter its new Clark Family Welcome Gallery, you'll think the place just landed from a galaxy far, far away. Designed by Chicago architect Thomas Roszak, this anywhere-but-here space envelops visitors in a cocoon of fabric pulsing with colored light. A portal to the Grainger Sky Theatre, the otherworldly arena propels planetarium-goers away from the banality of the parking lot and primes their minds for the cosmological explorations ahead. Its voids and volumes expand and contract as one passes through - an experience meant to reflect the notion of space and time as a single phenomenon. "We researched a number of topics in cosmology and astronomy to find one we thought we could represent physically and spatially," says Roszak. "Ultimately, we used bands of fabric in alternating single and double layers to suggest slices of time."

Spun from a constellation of ellipsoids strung on a curved path, the Welcome Gallery seems to encourage people to wander, rather than make a beeline for the theatre. Roaming through it, visitors - willingly or not - play their own games with time and space. "We arranged the space so people would want to explore what's around each corner," notes the IIT adjunct professor and principal at Thomas Roszak Architecture. "It was all about generating a mood and creating a setting that takes you away from your everyday experiences." The question remaining is, are you ready to be transported?

Article from CS Interiors - Winter 2012
http://digital.modernluxury.com/publication/?i=96050&p=44