JUNE 23, 2008

The tropical beaches of Dubai recently came to midtown Manhattan for a lavish party hosted by Donald Trump. It was there that he announced the new Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai on the Palm Jumeriah, a man-made island in the Arabian Gulf. This anticipated new building is a collaboration between the Trump Organization and Nakheel, two of the world’s leading property developers.

Our sister company Obscura Digital provided an elegant 60 ft. Pacific Dome for the event (at the request of Nakheel, hoping to repeat their successful Blue Communities launch inside a 90 ft. dome last January). The dome was custom-made for Obscura, designed with a white powdercoated exterior frame from which the cover was suspended. This unique style is the inverse of our traditional dome design (interior frame/exterior cover). It is only the second dome to be manufactured this way. The prototype for this version is the Pioneer dome made for Obscura Digital last spring.

The Trump dome had a multi-layer Event Lite cover with a separate interior projection liner. The type of liner used is Obscura Digital’s proprietary design, developed for their cutting edge, digital projection technology. This technology allows for full-surround projection of high resolution video that creates an immersive environment inside the dome theatre. At Trump’s celebration it was used to project 360-degree images of Dubai, luring guests into the Trump lifestyle that comes with living in his new luxurious tower.

The red carpet reception was held at the Seagram Building Plaza, outside the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City. Close to 400 guests attended, including celebrities like Heidi Klum, Demi Moore, Naomi Watts and Al Roker. The party’s tropical beach theme was enhanced by having real palm trees outside, carpeting inside that was designed to look and feel like sand and a soundtrack of crashing waves. There was even a trio of stiltwalking mimes dressed up like tall, white palm trees. This was an eye-popping event that transformed an entire city block and attracted throngs of paparazzi!

Tecnodomes, the Italian dealer for Pacific Domes International, set up a 30 ft. event dome at The Coppa Intereuropa racing event in Monza, Italy at the beginning of June. The Coppa Intereuropa is Italy’s most prestigious, historic racing event. The track at Monza is one of the fastest and most exciting circuits in the world. Monza is about passion and history, high speeds and high risks.

The dome served as a shelter for visitors to gather in. It provided a location where people could escape from the wind and rain, which occurred during the three days that the contests took place.

This futuristic structure also added a nice contrast to the antique sports cars that filled the venue.

JUNE 13-15, 2008

Interlaken, Switzerland was the spectacular scenic setting for this year’s Greenfield Festival. Bands like Linkin Park, The Offspring, NOFX and Bad Religion headlined the event. The festival, which took place over three days, featured 40 international and Swiss acts. The venue, which consisted of two stages, was located in a valley surrounded by huge granite mountains jutting into the sky.

Paragliders and skyjumpers jumped off cliffs and out of planes with smoke jets attached to their ankles, treating the crowd of 55,000 people to displays of purple, red and black plumes of smoke. But the best place to gather was at the domes! There were three of them: a 20ft., a 24 ft., and a 36 ft.

They were made with event vinyl covers that had skylight roofs and the hoop doors were located in the bay windows. The domes housed a bar where visitors could enjoy socializing, dancing or even play Texas Hold’em to try and win a prize.

JUNE 12-15, 2008

The third stop on the Francodome’s Canadian tour was Vancouver, British Columbia. The 70 ft. event dome and connecting smaller domes were erected in front of the Vancouver Art gallery for a three day celebration.

In hosting the event, the province  hoped to connect the 400th anniversary of Quebec City to the BC150 festivities. It also coincided with the Vancouver Francophone Summer Festival, which takes place every year in downtown Vancouver.

According to B.C.’s Tourism, Sport and Arts Minister Stan Hagen, “Bringing the Francodome to B.C. is an opportunity to showcase the artistry and culture of our province’s francophone community and celebrate with francophones across the country.”

This memorable, artistic adventure has been uniting people across Canada. The portable geodesic dome, which houses the travelling performance, continues to serve as its primary visual attraction. (To view the original blog, please click here.)

JUNE 11, 2008

The grand prize event for Gatorade’s Tiger Moonshot Challenge was held in Times Square last week. New Yorkers and visitors who were passing through the “center of the universe” on that day saw a 24 ft. moon dome set up on Military Island. NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson was there to tee off and attempt to replicate Tiger Woods’ infamous commercial. For more information and to find out who the winners are, you can visit the Gatorade Tiger website. To watch a short video of the final event on the tour please click here. (To view the original blog please click here.)

JUNE 5, 2008

As part of the Gatorade Tiger Moonshot Challenge tour, the 24 ft. moon dome made its way to Miami. Bill Parcells of the Miami Dolphins showed up for his turn with the Tiger Woods golf simulator. To watch the video that was released by Gatorade, please click here. (To view the original blog please click here.)

At the end of March, Swarovski held one of the biggest bashes of the year at the historic Meiji Picture Memorial Gallery in Tokyo. At the Swan Ceremony Party, Swarovski unveiled its new flagship store in Tokyo’s prestigious Ginza district.

Sushi, cheese, champagne and chocolates were served at a glittering fashion show which featured designs from the Daniel Swarovski collection (click here for more photos & click here to watch a short video of the show).

This gala event welcomed some 800 guests including international and Japanese celebrities such as actress Kaori Momoi from “Memoirs of a Geisha” and top model Carmen Kass. VIPs dressed in sparkling, chic fashion mingled inside a 90 ft. vinyl event dome.

The Swarovski logo was projected onto the dome skin, as well as the Swanflower design which recently became the company’s new motif. The dome was uniquely perfect for the high-class event and its portability allowed for it to be erected at the desired location for this particular purpose.

MAY 31, 2008

The Animal Planet Expo, now in its 11th year, started a 2008 summer tour near Philadelphia at the end of May. This event enchants and entertains people nationwide. It is a popular outing for animal lovers!

In addition to live animal presentations, fun games for kids and a “pet den,” there is an attraction called the “HD Dome.” This is a custom 30 ft. event dome with a cover that is comprised of three fabric layers. The outer cover is grey event lite fabric sewn onto a layer of black event lite fabric, creating a double skin that blocks out daytime sunlight.

Inside the dome, covering the interior geodesic frame, is a separate event lite liner that was digitally printed with an African savannah scene. The liner is attached to the frame from the inside so that the metal struts are hidden, allowing the image to aesthetically dominate the space.

The HD Dome features HDTVs, providing visitors with the opportunity to experience high-definition programming from Discovery’s family of HD networks. For more information about this tour, including a schedule with dates and locations, please visit http://animal.discovery.com/features/expo/expo.html.

MAY 29, 2008

On May 29th our very first 70 ft. event dome made its debut in Manitoba, Canada. This dome, known as “The Francodome,” has a blackout vinyl cover. To create a grand entry, it is connected to 20 ft. and 30 ft. event lite domes using tunnels. This dome complex is going on tour across Canada from now through September with a show called Francoforce (for tour schedule and more information click here).

The show is a collaborative effort by musicians, singers, poets, actors and filmmakers to celebrate 400 years of French presence in Quebec and includes a broad range of performances from folk dancing to modern popular music. Francoforce will stop at 14 cities located in all of the Canadian provinces and territories stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The artistic director’s goal is to provide the same experience to attendees in each city, creating the feeling of a universal celebration nationwide. We at Pacific Domes are thrilled to be providing the single visual element that will draw attention to this event which honors the creative diversity of the Francophone culture.

On Thursday May 29th, the Gatorade Tiger Moonshot Event arrived in Chicago. It was held at Pioneer Court and Tommie Harris of the Chicago Bears football team made a guest appearance. You can watch a short video of the event by clicking here. (To view the original blog please click here.)