Houston Chronicle – February 10, 2017
by Molly Glentzer
What if the Astrodome roof held the world’s biggest media installation?
Think of it: The exquisite circular geometry of that five-acre pie of more than 4,000 translucent skylights could hold an ever-changing, eye-popping kaleidoscope — an attraction that would dwarf even the cool experience of the Buffalo Bayou Cistern, creating starry, starry nights that could only happen in a Houston universe.
That’s the idea behind the “Star Dome,” a proposal by a couple of Rice University alums who are too young to remember the Astrodome when the Astros still played there. Joshuah Jest and Alex Weinheimer arrived in 2009 but were mesmerized by the geometry of the roof when they saw a view of it at night, taken from a blimp.
They shared their 3D printed model of the “Star Dome” Thursday during a presentation by the Astrodome Conservancy.