Simulated Heavens

Walther Bauersfeld invented the projection planetarium in Jena around 1920 and Carl Zeiss the lenses of the projector. The Zeiss Planetarium in Jena is the first geodesic dome derived from the icosahedron, more than 20 years before Buckminster Fuller reinvented and popularized this design. The story of the Zeiss Planetarium is mentioned as a living replica of the heavens. The story of Zeiss Planetarium will be told via these two personalities mentioned above. The space will become navigable through a timeline which will contain the most important dates that marked the evolution of the new invention. The spectator will be transported in different places by selecting the given years. The project will contain scenes from World War I and World War II when the evolution of the planetarium stopped but will also capture the attendance that steadily grew throughout the decade, with records revealing that millions of visitors had experienced the simulated heavens in Germany and then in other planetariums too: Berlin and Düsseldorf, as well as Rome, Paris, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.The narrator’s voice will alternate the first person narration »of the two inventors.« The spectator will be guided through the story by these voices. The virtual world will be entangled with archive photos and videos about the inventors and the planetarium. The virtual world will be entangled with archive photos and videos about the inventors and the planetarium.