MSI - The White House: A Look Inside

Museum of Science and Industry | Chicago, IL | 2009

Keeping an eye on budget and energy costs, Lightswitch designed a lighting installation for the exhibit that provided maximum impact with minimum footprint.

What It Was

The Museum’s new temporary exhibit, The White House: A Look Inside, offers an unprecedented up-close look at America’s most famous and beloved landmark. It takes you from the East Wing to the West Wing, through notable moments in history to the White House as it is today, in grand dimensions and true-to-life scale. Like the home that inspired it, this exhibit offers an awe-inspiring experience for the young and young-at-heart. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a meticulously detailed, 60-by-13 foot, 1:12 scale replica of the White House. Complete with hand-carved chairs and tables, stitch-by-stitch carpet recreations and even tiny working televisions, this masterpiece of miniature is the result of more than 600,000 work hours. This gift “to the people from the people” is truly a wonder to behold.

What We Did

Keeping an eye on budget and energy costs, Lightswitch designed a lighting installation for the exhibit that provided maximum impact with minimum footprint.

Why It Worked

By keeping our palette clean, simple, and grounded in reality, and by maintaining the high level of attention to detail demanded by such an elaborate centerpiece, Lightswitch was able to enhance the sense of majesty of the exhibit without distracting guests from the content.