Hoberman Associates, Inc., a New York-based design firm, assisted Innovative Designs and its parent company Barco, in creating the centerpiece for the U2 360º tour – the Expanding Video Screen – that debuted on June 30, 2009 during the band’s opening night in Barcelona, Spain.

While large video screens are a familiar fixture for arena style rock concerts, U2 was looking for something unprecedented for its 360º tour – a giant screen that could change its size and shape.

Chuck Hoberman, along with long-time U2 collaborators, Willie Williams and Mark Fisher, and Frederic Opsomer of Innovative Designs, conceptualized this fusion of architecture, stage scenery and extreme technology. They came up with a design for an elliptical video display, approximately the size of a tennis court that could morph into a 7-story high cone-shaped structure, enveloping the band as it extends.

Constructed of stainless steel and aircraft aluminum, the display is made of 888 LED screens, with 500,000 pixels spanning across them, providing concertgoers with clear and visually stunning images. It has a screen area of 3,800 square feet, and weighs approximately 120,000 pounds.

Suspended from the center of “The Claw,” the main stage set named for its futuristic, four-legged design, the Expanding Video Screen provides U2 fans the first-ever 360-degree concert view. With a height of 164 feet, the entire U2 360º set is twice as tall as the stage from the Rolling Stones’ A Bigger Bang tour, which was, according to Rolling Stone magazine, the largest stadium set built to date. Accordingly, every seat in the U2 tour’s 75,000-plus seat stadiums will have a completely unobstructed view of the show.

Chuck Hoberman, founder of Hoberman Associates, Inc. stated, “The Expanding Video Screen fuses technology, design and architecture. It’s a video display that becomes something else, a living theatrical event. This project has been a true feat of engineering, accomplished by a fantastic team of architects, engineers and artists. We are thrilled to be a part of the U2 concert experience and give every fan in every seat of the stadium a clear and unique perspective of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen.”

The Expanding Video Screen’s development is based on Hoberman’s patented ‘Iris Structure’ that has been realized in other forms, including the Iris Dome at The Museum of Modern Art (New York City, 1994), the Iris Dome at the World’s Fair (Hanover, Germany, 1999) and the Olympic Arch (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2002).

The screen was produced by Barco and Innovative Designs. Hoberman Associates and Innovative Designs were responsible for screen design and engineering. Engineering firm Buro Happold provided all structural analysis for the screen.

To create the Expanding Video Screen’s atypical design, Innovative Designs, Buro Happold, and Hoberman Associates had to overcome multiple technical challenges; including designing a product that withstands high winds and inclement weather. The screen is durable enough to last the rigors of an 18-month tour and has the ability to be assembled and disassembled in less than eight hours.

A moving screen of this scale has never before been incorporated into the concert experience. As Frederic Opsomer of Innovative Designs remarked, "Video screens used to be 3x4 meters…but now we'll take it much further."

About Hoberman Associates, Inc.

Nowhere do the disciplines of art, architecture and engineering fuse as seamlessly as in the work of inventor Chuck Hoberman, the founder of Hoberman Associates, a multidisciplinary practice that specializes in Transformable Design—the development of products, structures, and environments that change their size and shape.

Hoberman demonstrates that objects which are foldable, retractable or shape-shifting have functional benefits: portability, instantaneous opening, and intelligent responsiveness to the built environment. The practice works on diverse projects, from consumer products to deployable shelters, space structures, and buildings.

For more information, please visit http://www.hoberman.com