U2 began its 360 world tour last night in Barcelona, and yeah, Bono and those guys are rock stars and they sell out stadiums, we get it. Nonetheless, the real star of the show is the massive stage--we saw a sneak peek of it last week--designed by Hoberman Associates; Innovative Designs, which specializes in stage architecture; and Buro Happold, a structural engineering firm.
You've actually probably played with Hoberman Associate's most famous project--the company was founded by inventor Chuck Hoberman, who designed the famed Hoberman Sphere, the collapsable toy you can find in toy (and design) stores worldwide.
The new U2 stage bears Hoberman's unmistakable signature: The centerpiece, suspended from a massive claw, is a massive video display made of 888 individual tiny LED screens. It's seven stories tall, covers 3,800 square feet and weighs 60 tons. But it moves nonetheless, changing shape during the performance. A little bit like a Chinese finger trap, it envelops the band as it extends, while displaying short films direted by artist Catherine Owens:
The design is based on the Iris Dome, an expanding structure that Hoberman has experimented with over the years.
Check out more details of the stage at Space Invading.
Related:
First Look: U2's "360º" Concert Stage
[Images via Core 77 and video via Archinect; both have more images. Additional information via Hoberman Associates]
Related Stories: | Topics:Design, U2, Hoberman Associates, 360 tour, stage design, Design Installations, Media installations, media walls, Innovation, Technology, U2, Chuck Hoberman, Bono (Musician), Barcelona, Entertainment |
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Recent Comments | 10 Total
July 1, 2009 at 9:26pm by ANtony Jeyakar
The stage setup looks pretty robotic. It suits well for the kinda music played by bono.
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July 2, 2009 at 4:19am by Lucky Duque
The video screen was genius. So Gaudi, so surreal, and the world's biggest disco ball. Inspiring. You had to be there to be able to talk about with any kind of authenticity.
July 2, 2009 at 12:39pm by Claudia Schmitz
Design is it - looks great, but I try to imagine the cost to go on a world tour with this, if they stay a week (what they will not do) but the stage design must cost a furtune. I think the logistic behind it, built it up and down, is worth another article. Excellence in performance is what you need here - and a completely crazy crew on perfection.
July 2, 2009 at 3:11pm by Douglas Steel
The structure of the stage provides the context, but FC hasn't acknowledged the firm that is providing the digital content that gives the music and the stage it's meaning. That work was done by a London-based firm called United Visual Artists. I had the chance to meet with them a few weeks ago, and they are some of the most creative people I have ever met. Let's give credit where credit is due!
July 2, 2009 at 3:12pm by Douglas Steel
The structure of the stage provides the context, but FC hasn't acknowledged the firm that is providing the digital content that gives the music and the stage it's meaning. That work was done by a London-based firm called United Visual Artists. I had the chance to meet with them a few weeks ago, and they are some of the most creative people I have ever met. Let's give credit where credit is due!
July 2, 2009 at 3:18pm by Cliff Kuang
@Douglas---Thanks for commenting! I wasn't aware, based on the press materials, that UVA was involved with this project (I'm a huge fan of their work; we've posted a story dedicated to them). They only mentioned Catherine Owens, which is in the story above.
I can't find any confirmation that UVA was involved in the current show--though they were involved in the tour from 2005. Can you point me to a source?
July 2, 2009 at 5:28pm by Filiberto Lopez
Lo malo es que los músicos acaban bien mareados.
July 6, 2009 at 8:21am by Ashraf Nehru
@Douglas and @Cliff - UVA were involved in this tour, but we didn't make content for this show. Our content playback and visualisation system, d3, was used for all video content (including live sources), reformatting content to compensate for the changing shape of the screen.
July 7, 2009 at 3:32am by Douglas Steel
Thanks for clarifying that, Ash. I apologize if I misrepresented your involvement. I was glad to learn that you contributed in a way that reflects the technology capabilities of UVA. All the best.
July 8, 2009 at 6:28pm by Johanna Ocampo
The product was manufactured by Barco. More info can be found at http://www.barco.com/events/en/references/U2/?tr=CHP_B&bnrid=119&bnrsq=3