Barco chosen for one-of-a-kind LED fountain at Millennium Park
LOGAN, UT – U.S. Equities Realty has awarded a contract to Barco for one of the most unique LED installations ever designed. U.S. Equities Realty, a renowned, full-service commercial real estate and development firm, award-winning Chicago architectural firm Krueck-Sexton, celebrated Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, and Barco collaborated on a state-of-the-art fountain, incorporating LED technology, at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. The fountain is the only known structure of its kind in the world.
U.S. Equities, along with their client and donor for the project, the prestigious and civic leader Crown family, purchased two 50’ x 22’ Barco SLite 14 LED displays, which will be installed on a 6,000 square foot area of land in Millennium Park along Chicago's beautiful lakefront. Located at the corner of North Michigan Avenue and East Monroe Street, the LED towers will stand approximately 150’ apart, with the front of the displays facing each other, and sit in approximately 1/8” of water. The Barco displays are encased in a custom-fabricated glass structure, enabling water to cascade down the façade of the display towers. Content for the displays is being created by the artist in conjunction with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and will include nature photography, vivid imagery of various colors, and, predominantly, actual faces of Chicago residents.
Roark Frankel, Vice President, U.S. Equities, and project manager for the Crown Fountain, stated, “Our client wanted to provide the people of Chicago with a memorable and incredibly special public place; a place to gather, reflect and, most of all, to build a greater sense of community. It was Jaume Plensa and his unique genius that created the inspiring concept for the Crown Fountain, and along with Krueck-Sexton and a dedicated team of other specialty designers, engineers and vendors like Barco, we hope to bring Plensa’s concept to life. Visitors to Millennium Park will be absolutely stunned by the originality, beauty and feeling behind this one-of-a-kind fountain that blends water, imagery and state-of-the-art technology. It will truly be a masterpiece.”
Dave Janke, General Manager, Barco Media, stated, “The unsurpassed ability of Barco’s engineering know-how and rugged design of the Barco LED made this project design possible. In addition, the futuristic vision of some highly respected people at U.S. Equities Realty, Krueck-Sexton, the Crown Foundation, and artist Jaume Plensa, made this cutting-edge concept a reality. We are excited to be a part of a landmark that Chicago residents and tourists alike will enjoy for many, many years to come.”
Barco SLite
Barco’s SLite is the solution for large to ultra-large outdoor LED display installations. The SLite can overlay video and data sources in their native quality without conversion of any kind, allowing the display the ultimate sharpness of all sources. Its modular design is specifically engineered to provide flexibility of dimension and size. The rugged, dust and waterproof modules are certified IP65, making them resistant to harsh external elements, and thus ideal for use in all outdoor conditions. Through use of its True Color ReproductionTM technology, the SLite offers the ultimate color accuracy and premium quality display. Barco’s processing expertise and exclusive sourcing of LED components ensure the optimum brightness levels for large-scale installations. Two versions are currently available: SLite 10 and SLite 14.
About U.S. Equities Realty
U.S. Equities Realty is a leading full-service commercial real estate firm headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Philadelphia, Detroit, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Santiago, Chile. The company serves as strategic real estate advisors to clients throughout the United States and in South America, providing development, program management, build-to-suit and construction oversight services; management and leasing a portfolio of 40 million square feet; tenant representation, consulting and advisory services; and acquisition, disposition and financing of real estate assets. For more information, visit www.usequities.com.
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, is active in three key areas of imaging technology. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco has a network of subsidiaries, distributors and agents in almost 100 countries. Barco is quoted on Brussels/Euronext and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company.
For more information, please contact
Inge
Govaerts
Public Relations Manager
Barco - Media & Entertainment
Telephone
+32 56 36 8052
inge.govaerts@barco.com
