Chicago Architecture Center

The Chicago City Model Experience is the star attraction at the Chicago Architecture Center. The model features more than 4,000 buildings and interactive elements that tell the history and stories of the city.

The installation features a film and light show that illuminate the model with the amazing story of Chicago’s early growth, its rebirth after the Great Chicago Fire and its ever-changing skyline, which includes some of the world’s first skyscrapers and iconic modern towers made of steel and glass.

The complex model was retopologized by our 3d team which was then 3d printed and installed onsite. We then devised a content workflow for the complex template. All content was created and rendered in Notch and then played back on disguise servers onsite.

Around the model is a series of interactive touch screens that allow visitors to interact with the content. The companion web app installed on these touch screens use OSC controls to trigger content on the disguise server. The system is entirely aware of what content is playing so it notifies the other touch screen devices. On the hour every hour there is also a show moment which automatically locks off the app from triggering content.

The application helps visitors orient themselves to the city of Chicago, they can search for buildings by architect or architectural style and see data projected dynamically on the Model.

The web app was designed with a content management system so that the client could upload and edit content remotely. The front end was built as a Vue app delivered as an installable electron app.