A cast acrylic window is lowered into place by crane while workers stand by to maneuver it into its specially prepared concrete sill.
The picture on the left was taken from a working model 1/16 the size of the real Aquarium. Photographs of the model complete with scaled cardboard people allow us to see the "visitor's point of view" from various angles.
We Can Sea
Spring 1982
A key element of the Aquarium's giant Kelp Forest and Monterey Bay Habitat exhibits—the acrylic viewing windows that separate us from the fish—are now on site. Acrylic is chosen over glass because it is highly impact resistant, lightweight and extremely transparent, even when very thick. Two of these windows, rising from the bottom of the Kelp Forest exhibit, are 7 ¼ inches thick.
Aquarium Opens to Cardboard Visitors
During the initial layout of an exhibit, mock-ups are created to get a sense of an area. Studies and discussions by the design team help refine and modify the original ideas and the model is revised to reflect these changes. Then the exhibit is modeled in more detail, complete with scaled people, tanks, graphics and floor coverings. This provides a three-dimensional view of the proposed exhibit to be used to study traffic flow, detailed spacial layout, effects of lighting and overall effect of the exhibit.
Previous story
Next era
Previous era
