Space UK, British Council travelling exhibition

Graven designed a lightweight and highly portable exhibition that promoted the involvement of UK scientists and engineers in a range of space missions to study the Solar System.

The exhibition makes innovative use of off-the-shelf ‘pop-up’ exhibition systems. Graven developed and engineered a small ‘connector’ product which enabled us to build large-scale structures out of readily-available display units. This system features lightweight aluminium frames that mimic the structures used in spacecraft design. Each frame can be erected in a matter of minutes and when collapsed takes up very little volume, making it ideal for a travelling exhibition.

The content of the exhibition is displayed on lightweight graphic panels made from polypropylene and suspended from the exhibition frames. Text and imagery have been printed directly onto the panels using an advanced ink-jet printing process. This process in combination with the translucent nature of the polypropylene takes full advantage of the available light, creating a vibrant and engaging display.

The exhibition also features an abstracted model of the solar system, demonstrating the relative sizes of the sun and the planets and the distances between them. Once again a lightweight and compact solution has been found that makes use of telescopic carbon-fibre rods and polystyrene spheres. Several versions of the exhibition toured worldwide. Countries included Sweden, Norway, Korea, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic.