Fabric-wrapped Planetarium Exhibit

A new exhibit at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium is wrapped in fabric

As part of its first major renovation since 1999, the Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum on the Chicago waterfront, enlisted Fabric Images Inc. to engineer and construct a tensioned fabric space portal and gallery area to its new Deep Space Adventure exhibit. The Clark Family Welcome Gallery at the Planetarium is a futuristic illuminated fabric environment that introduces visitors into the Grainger Sky Theater.

The gallery entryway serves as a backdrop for the recently upgraded interactive areas within the waiting areas. Tensioned fabric skins cover an interior arched frame that actively engages participation by visitors in this staging area with multimedia presentations of contemporary space explorers in a dynamic setting of light, sound and flowing fabric architecture that serves as projection screen.

“The organic nature of fabric architecture was a perfect marriage,” says Marco Alvarez, president and CEO of Fabric Images, “to enhance the ‘wow’ factor of the newly integrated projection system that is one of the new highlights in Deep Space Adventure.” The fabrics used in the installation are Elasta and Celtic.