The Hancock Center

Chicago, USA

Lucent is the newest addition to the iconic John Hancock Center in Chicago, Illinois. Designed by UK artist Wolfgang Buttress, the breathtaking installation is the central feature within the refurbished lobby area of the grand skyscraper.

With its delicately detailed composition you may at first believe that you are looking at a dandelion comprising of thousands of small seed heads, but the sculpture is actually much more complex than that, it is an astronomy inspired star map.

Spanning four metres in diameter the semi-spherical structure consists of 3,115 perforated holes which accurately map each of the stars in the northern hemisphere that can be seen with the naked eye.

Emerging from each triangulated hole are strands of our PMMA fibre which emit glowing ambient light that pulsates throughout the day. Hand blown glass orbs are attached to the ends of the fibre points to diffuse the light and embody each of the stars. Our Sirius LED light sources with full DMX control are used to power the fibre that runs throughout the installation and give it the pulsating appearance.

The sculpture has been cleverly installed on a mirrored ceiling to give the impression of a complete sphere, while the polished black granite pool of water that sits below reflects the structure and creates a sense of infinity.

Images courtesy of Susan Aurinko & Wolfgang Buttress