TED Constructs Theater Within Ballroom

Assembling more than 8,000 pieces of Douglas fir to make the pop-up TED theater at Vancouver (B.C.) Convention Centre. (Photo by Ryan Lash)

The annual TED Conference moved to its new home at Vancouver (B.C.) Convention Centre, March 17-21, but the work to build a custom, reusable theater inside a ballroom began long before the opening date.

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conf...