LAKESHORE DISCOVERYIN NATURE

MIKE GOSPEL

OVERALL CONCEPTS

EXAMPLE OF MAJOR MONUMENT

The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry tasked Luci Creative with creating a one-of-a-kind exhibit experience called Numbers in Nature. I have been similarly tasked with creating additional exhibit expe-riences within this Numbers in Nature concept. These exhibits are to be “pop-up” experiences through-out the city of Chicago. My answer to this design challenge is shown in the following book.

First, I will outline all the major con-cepts at play to complete this cohe-sive design.

There will be seven pop-up loca-tions in addition to the original exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. The number seven is significant in nature (colors in the electromagnetic spectrum, conti-nents on Earth, wonders of the ancient world), so this number seems perfectly fitting.

These seven locations will be spread out at approximately equal (~2-mile) increments along Lake Michigan on the Lakeshore Trail. This widespread experience can be enjoyed one location at a time, or as one long adventure. Families and groups can rent Divvy bikes or walk

the total of approximately 14 miles while learning about Numbers in Nature.

At each location, there is a “Major Monument.” A structure that beck-ons people in to explore. An example is pictured below of a plan-etary orbit model that users can interact with by pulling planets along their orbital paths!

Also, visitors can track their adven-ture using a mobile smartphone app. The app includes extra content to be explored both at home and “in the field.” This app ties the whole chain of experiences together as an exciting adventure. Let’s explore!

MOBILE APP

OVERALL CONCEPTS

MOBILE APP

AT EACH SITE...TYPICAL SITE DETAILS

Each site has a major monument at its center. But there are other typical details that are seen on each site.

The rough footprint of every exhibit experience is a 30’ diam-eter circle. These are cropped off at certain entry points where appli-cable.

Each site also has signage to tie the site to a cohesive wayfinding and branding scheme, and to inform and entertain visitors with facts, images, and activities all surrounding the Numbers in Nature theme.

In addition to the display signage, each site also will have its own unique low ornamental fence system. Each fence is designed after the theme of its exhibit. Some examples are pictured here.

TYPICAL 30’ CIRCULAR PLAN

LOW DISPLAYS

HIGH DISPLAYS

MAJOR MONUMENT

ORNAMENTAL FENCE

ORNAMENTAL FENCE DETAIL - GOLDEN MEAN

AT EACH SITE...TYPICAL SITE DETAILS

EXAMPLE OF HIGH AND LOW DISPLAY SIGNS

EXAMPLE OF HIGH AND LOW DISPLAY SIGNS IN CURRENT EXHIBIT TYPICAL 30’ CIRCULAR PLAN

HIGH DISPLAYS

LOW DISPLAYS

ORNAMENTAL FENCE DETAIL - WAVES

SMARTPHONE APP

The Numbers in Nature LakeshoreDiscovery can be completed one exhibit at a time or with an interactive smart-phone app. The app turns the separate exhibits into a more cohesive adventure. Users who download the app can get a closer look at the concepts being exhib-ited. The main menu has links to each exhibit’s “discovery” page, an interactive map with locations of Divvy bikes and CTA train and bus stops, a page of extra interactive features (videos, games, etc.), and a “trophies” page.

A user earns a virtual trophy at each loca-tion. With each exhibit discovery geo-tagged, the app will know when a user is at that location and will award a unique achievement badge. In addition, to the trophy, the app will unlock more interac-tive content related to each location. Included in this content is site-specific augmented reality software.

Augmented reality is popular in many applications like furniture sales. The soft-ware activates the camera on the mobile device and turns the user’s surroundings into a virtual world that can be altered and interacted with. A user many of the Lake-shore Discovery locations will be able to see impossible things like giant tsunami waves at North Avenue Beach or all of Lake Michigan freezing over!

TYING THE ADVENTURE TOGETHER

SMARTPHONE APP

TOGGLE ON ANDOFF DIVVY BIKEAND CTA STOP LOCATIONS

IN-APP MAP PAGE

EXAMPLES OF AUGMENTED REALITY SOFTWARE

TAPPING ALOCATION BRINGS UP ITS “DISCOVERY”PAGE FOR MORECONTENT

TYING THE ADVENTURE TOGETHER

PLANETS AND CIRCLESAT ADLER PLANETARIUM

This exhibit all revolves around circles. Patrons will discover the appearances of circles in nature, the difference between circles and ellipses, and take a turn on the “Orbit Race,” the major monument of this exhibit. On the “Orbit Race,” up to eight users can pull one of the eight planets in our solar system

along its orbit. The distances of planets from the sun are to an approximate scale, so users can see the relative differences in plan-etary “years.” The Earth of this model should only take a few seconds to orbit the sun. How long will it take for Neptune to make one revolution? The exhibit details will be displayed on two pairs of high display signs with low displays

running between them. The graph-ics and written details on these displays will include examples of circles and spheres in nature (planets, fruits, cells, organs, etc.), definitions and applications of circle-specific terminology (circumference, diameter, etc.), and the math behind Pi. The exhibit floor is laid out in concentric circles following the planetary orbit paths and the ornamental fence in this exhibit also follows a circular motif.

SITE LOCATION

EXISTING SITE

ORNAMENTAL FENCE DETAIL

PLANETS AND CIRCLESAT ADLER PLANETARIUM

PLANET STRUCTURE

HIGH DISPLAYSLOW DISPLAYS

HIGH DISPLAYS

SITE PLAN

PERSPECTIVE RENDERING

ORNAMENTAL FENCE

R 15’

25’

DNA CODINGAT NAVY PIER

This exhibit is all about the coding that makes up all life: DNA. Just like all software in the digital world is made up of only two numbers (ones and zeroes), the natural world is coded by four different chemicals! These four chemicals (thymine, adenine, guanine, and cytosine or T,A,G, and C) are what determine if an organism is a human, a tree, or a pig. And if a person will have green

eyes or dangling earlobes! So DNA is the “computer code” that makes up the natural world. So we find in this exhibit many comparisons between natural life and digital life.

The major monument of this exhibit is a juxtaposition of a giant chromo-some filled with genes and a desk-top computer CPU. Both of these statues have many different drawers that can be opened. The drawers on the chromosome represent

individual genes, while the computer drawers represent chips and drives that make up software. Each gene contains one piece of information like eye or hair color, and each chip in the computer contains one program or interface. The drawers contain a visual representation of the item they control (like a chart of eye colors) under plexiglass. Low drawers can be looked down into, while the higher drawers have a glass bottom, so you can look up into them!

SITE LOCATION

ORNAMENTAL FENCE DETAIL

EXISTING SITE

SITE LOCATION

DNA CODINGAT NAVY PIER

LOW DISPLAYS

HIGH DISPLAYSORNAMENTALFENCE

DOUBLE HELIX WALK

SITE PLAN

MAJOR MONUMENT CONCEPT SKETCHES

R 15’

EXISTING SITE

WAVESAT NORTH AVENUE BEACH

THE GOLDEN MEANAT MONTROSE BEACH

At North Avenue Beach, you’ll learn all about waves. The major monument of this site is a minia-ture wave pool where visitors can press different buttons to yield water waves of different sizes. The display signs will show images and data about waves. Visitors will learn about sine and cosine waves as well as wavelengths, amps, and frequen-cies and how waves work in electricity.

This is also a location where the mobile app employs the augmented reality technology. Hold your tablet or mobile device still over a signal image on the ground to allow the surroundings to be mapped digitally, then voila! You can control the waves of Lake Michigan!

Try out different weather conditions at different times of the year to see enormous waves coming right at you through your screen!

AUGMENTED REALITY APP

SITE PLAN

MAJOR MONUMENT

WAVESAT NORTH AVENUE BEACH

THE GOLDEN MEANAT MONTROSE BEACH

This site focuses more on the golden mean and Phi. Take what you’ve learned from the main Numbers in Nature exhibit in the Museum of Science and Industry and explore them more here. The major monument of this location is a giant snail shell. Visitors can crawl inside and look up at a very unique “snail’s eye” view.

On the walls inside the shell are images and facts about places to find the golden ratio or golden mean in nature, such as pine cones and sunflowers.

This location is also 20 feet from the Mon-trose Harbor Divvy bike station!

MAJOR MONUMENTSITE PLAN

SECTION

MAJOR MONUMENT

ICE AND CRYSTALSAT BURNHAM PARK

GROWTH AND MEASUREMENTAT MORGAN POINT AND BELMONT HARBOR

Visitors will learn all about the geometry of ice and crystals here in Burnham Park. At the center of this exhibit are three large transparent crystals that reflect and refract the light of the sun, creating numerous rainbow patterns on the ground below.

Displayed on the two pairs of signs are facts and images about polyhedrons and crystalline struc-tures found in nature.

This is another site where the augmented reality software really shines. A visitor lines his or her mobile device up, facing the lake, and can watch as slowly, the lake freezes over, starting from the shore and moving deeper. This shows the science and patterns seen in freezing and crystal-izing water

SITE PLAN

MAJOR MONUMENT

ICE AND CRYSTALSAT BURNHAM PARK

GROWTH AND MEASUREMENTAT MORGAN POINT AND BELMONT HARBOR

At Morgan Point, you’ll learn about growth patterns, like exponential growth. The major monument here is a set of 1-foot tall spherical cells that multiply from 1 to 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 cells, a model of exponential growth and cell mitosis.

At Belmont Harbor, the exhibit is Measure-ment. Have you ever wondered how we got the standard units of measure we use every day? Measurements like the Foot or the Hand or the Inch? These were all once based on distances on the human body! Visitors can measure themselves in any unit type on the major monument here--a giant, 4-sided measuring stick.

MEASUREMENT SITE PLANMAJOR MONUMENT

GROWTH SITE PLAN