Argonne and UIC project supercomputer data visualizations onto THE MART facade in Chicago
A public projection mapping installation demonstrates decades of scientific research across 2.5 acres of urban building facade.
Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Illinois Chicago launched a public scientific projection titled "Where Data Becomes Light: The Beauty of Scientific Visualization" on September 10 in Chicago, as reported by anl.gov anl.gov
anl.govanl.govOpen source ↗. The visual installation is projected onto the 2.5-acre facade of THE MART as part of the ART on THE MART program. The projection runs Thursdays through Sundays from 7:30 to 8:00 p.m. until November 15, appearing twice in each 30-minute block alongside visual materials from the Adler Planetarium.
Scientific Datasets
The initiative brings together the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility and the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at UIC under the leadership of Michael Papka and Daria Tsoupikova. Every sequence displayed in the installation originated directly from empirical datasets and computational models rather than purely artistic concepts. Viewers see visualizations of early mathematical formulations, graphene interactions with nanodiamonds, materials science processes, human lung airways, and the movement of a cancer cell through a blood vessel.
Additional segments cover astrophysics and geophysical simulations, including hurricane structures, turbulent fluids, nuclear fusion, black holes, and the large-scale evolution of the universe. The underlying data was generated over decades of simulations and calculations utilizing leadership-class supercomputers at Argonne and partner facilities of the U.S. Department of Energy.
Computational Adaptation
ALCF visualization specialists Joseph Insley, Silvio Rizzi, Victor Mateevitsi, and Janet Knowles adapted massive simulation results into animations suitable for a 25-story building anl.gov
anl.govanl.govOpen source ↗. Datasets required re-rendering to maintain visual clarity from distances exceeding 100 feet across the Chicago River. Sound design for the installation was created by Silvio Rizzi. According to the authors, the project demonstrates how data rendering serves both as a functional investigative tool for researchers and an open public communication medium.
