Contractors Installing 'Shimmer Wall' At The Franklin Institute
By Mark Abrams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Contractors working on the Franklin Institute's new addition at 20th and Race streets are attaching to the building what the museum describes as an "art meets science" application.
It's called a "Shimmer Wall" according to Troy Collins, senior vice president for the Franklin Institute.
"The components of this wall literally are 12,500 aluminum panels," Collins explained. "They are hung on over 800 rods and it covers over 3,000 square feet."
Collins says contractors will take several days to carefully lay the panels in place.
"These aluminum panels are free-flowing so as the wind moves, it creates a shimmer effect that you see across the entire outer face of the building."
It's sort of like looking at the surface of a lake.
The building itself - the first major expansion of the institute in years - will house an education center, an exhibition on neuroscience called "Your Brain," and a large, traveling exhibit space.
It's all due to open in June 2014.
