The mile-long Midway Plaisance is an important habitat zone for bird migration along the Mississippi Flyway. Researchers estimate that hundreds of millions of birds are killed each year in North America due to collisions with glass on human-built structures, making such collisions one of the most significant causes of avian mortality globally. Since the David Rubenstein Forum would stand in the middle of this ecological corridor with tall sheets of glass connecting the indoor and outdoor environments, it was important that the design address bird collision risks.

DS+R worked with Arnold Glass to integrate emerging film technology into the curtain wall assemblies. The film is clear with an ultraviolet printed pattern that resembles a spider web. Birds see this pattern in the ultraviolet spectrum but it is invisible to the human eye, thus creating a glass wall that appears transparent to humans but solid to birds. It is the one of the first integrations of this technology integrated into our urban environment.