Calgary Architect Bill Chomik is contributing his expertise to a current redesign for the Heureka Planetarium, in Helsinki, Finland. Drawing courtesy Bill ChomikArchitecture has traditionally been a profession of generalists, but can offer fulfilling opportunities for those who choose to specialize.This was the case for Bill Chomik, a Calgary-based architect who, over the latter half of his career, has become the worlds leading expert in planetarium design.Chomiks foray into this esoteric specialty happened largely by circumstance. In 1993, he was Chair of the Calgary Science Centre Society when the centre needed to upgrade its aging planetarium. Because of Chomiks experience as an architect, he helped write an RFP for retrofitting the building with the new style of planetariuma tilted dome that allowed for upright seats, replacing the original flat dome that required almost fully reclined seats.There were no bids on the RFP: the obvious candidate to take the job would have been the planetariums original designer, Jack Long, but Long had by then become a City Councillor. So, with the support of the Science Centre Society, Chomik resigned from the board, and his 10-person firm took on the project.To complete the design, Chomik consulted extensively with suppliers. He also travelled to Finland to visit the just-opened Hereka Planetarium, by Heikkinen-Komonen Architects.Chomik and colleague Urs Kick studied the new structure from top to bottom, and ultimately used it as a model for the Calgary planetarium.At the grand reopening of the Calgary venue, suppliers approached Chomik saying that he was good to work with, and thatunlike many architects, whose designs undermined the ability of the projectors and other technical elements to perform at their besthe listened to what they had to say about their equipment. Chomik replied, Were Canadians, we listen and deal with everyone around us.A month later, he got a call from Athens: his name was put forward for a new planetarium being built there. He interviewed and got the job. Soon after, he was working on planetariums in Chicago, Guangzhou, Seoul, and San Jose. Although they were never the sole focal point of his practice, the firm took on these projects, and he continued to work on planetariumsone a year or soafter his practice was acquired by Kasian and he became a principal with the larger firm.To date, Chomik has been involved in the design of some 18 completed planetariums, with another 14 projects currently underway. Now retired from Kasian, he is a sole practitioner who works as a consultant to firms leading the design of planetarium-containing venues. In this capacity, Chomik has worked with the likes of I.M. Pei, Ricardo Legorreta, MAD Architects, and Zaha Hadid Studio.His scope now focuses on high-level conceptual design, and Chomik is glad for the opportunity to have a seat at the table, and for the travel his work involves. Id encourage young architects to try and develop a specialization if they want to have an interesting time in the prime of their career, he says. I made it a point 30 years ago to really understand planetariumswhat clients wanted, what technologies were out there to support it, what flaws were out there that should never be repeated againand became a world expert.As appeared in the November 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazineThe post Editorial: Star Specialist appeared first on Canadian Architect.