Engineer: Primera Engineers, Ltd.

Contractor: Atrium Inc.

Lighting Manufacturer: iLight Technologies

Landscape Architect: Richard Bumstead

Photographer: Kate Joyce Studios

The university’s Associate Director for Campus Environment, Richard Bumstead, has been the facility’s landscape architect for 35 years. In 2017, Bumstead addressed an open space in the Crerar Science Quadrangle, which is a “hub” on Campus West near the very heart of the campus. He was inspired to create something spectacular that would cause passersby to take pause and capture a moment of wonder. Bumstead imagined two immense concentric circles of light suspended high above the ground, as if hovering overhead.

To get this ambitious light project off the design page and into the sky it was paramount that the University of Chicago call on trusted and dependable partners. Bumstead and his colleague, Kathleen Golomb, Project Manager – Landscape Design, entrusted Maglin Site Furniture and Jacobs/Ryan Associates to be their collaborative project partners. Both companies had worked with the university in the past and established a relationship noted for reliability and creativity.

At Maglin Site Furniture, the Modified and Original Products (Custom) division worked closely with the half dozen service providers who contributed to the project over its eight-month span. Coordinated communication—including site visits, supplier meetings, daily email updates, and regular phone calls—ensured that Maglin completed this very detailed and collaborative driven project on time and within budget.

On June 21, 2018, the University of Chicago and Maglin Site Furniture hosted an illumination ceremony at the campus. Guests enjoyed tours of the grounds, met representatives from the organizations that worked on the project, and got to marvel at the centerpiece of the event—the original artistic light installation.