E.M.P.A.C. - Grimshaw Architects

A propósito deste novo exercício, achei interessante este exemplo em termos de criação de um espaço de espectáculos (e não só) anexado a posteriori a um Instituto Politécnico. Penso poder "destravar" a criatividade para este início de processo de desenho.


" EMPAC is a platform for performance and research incorporating four distinct and specialized venues under one roof: an acoustically optimized 1,200 seat Concert Hall, a 400 seat Theater, and two black box studios created for flexible use by artists and researchers. Also provided are artist-in-residence studios, audiovisual production and post production suites, audience amenities, and student and support facilities.

So that the traditional and the experimental may be seen as yoked together yet distinct, Grimshaw arranged the concert hall and atrium axially with the main entrance in a linear sequence on the north side of the building, while the studios and theater form an adjacent sequence on the south."

"... A conceptual dialogue was then initiated between these two sequences by seeing the Concert Hall manifested as the physical presence of an object in space, while the Theater and studios represent the physical absence of discovered voids within a solid.

Because the main entrance is at hilltop level, close to the roof, while the volume of the Concert Hall is fitted into the slope below, a large “found space” opens up between the two. Upon entering the building, visitors find themselves at the top of the Atrium and main circulation area, looking down at the exterior of the concert hall: a curved hull wrapped in solid cedar planks. "

"Access to the Concert Hall is provided via elevated walkways that span the atrium like gangplanks. The entire hull of the Concert Hall is contained within the Atrium, allowing public circulation all around it.

Designed to be a first-class venue for symphonic music, yet equally capable of accommodating jazz, amplified music, presentations, film, and dance with electronically generated sound and video projection, the Concert Hall is configured traditionally in a “shoe box” format: as a long, narrow room of wood and masonry construction. The floor and lower walls are all finished in maple, while the upper walls are clad in a combination of precast acoustic panels made of gypsum and precast stone. The room is slightly convex in form to maximize acoustic diffusion.

The ceiling is made of panels of fabric less than one millimeter thick, supported on a delicate web of stainless steel cables. The fabric was specially selected and woven for EMPAC and is optimized for gentle reflectivity to high-frequency sound and increasing transparency to mid- and low-frequency sound, providing acoustic support to the musicians and audience while allowing the volume above the ceiling to generate reverberance. The ceiling panels form a convex shape overall and exhibit a gently glowing surface when illuminated. "



" The Theater is equipped to the highest standards available to professional theater companies and offers an extraordinary resource for Rensselaer’s experimental artists and student performers. The Theater can be used with or without its orchestra pit. Movable seating at the parterre level, along the sides, allows artists to configure the theater as a proscenium space or to extend the playing area along the sides of the audience. The framing of the side galleries accommodates the attachment of projection screens and loudspeakers, allowing the audience to be immersed in virtual environments. Finished with maple floors and high-quality plaster walls, the theater has a slightly less formal treatment than the concert hall, so that its architectural presence can recede when the stage lights come up. "

"Total area: 221,200 square feet
Concert Hall: 11,500 square feet (seating 1,200)
Theater: 4,500 square feet (seating 400)
Studio 1: 3,500 square feet
Studio 2: 2,500 square feet
Rehearsal Studio: 1,500 square feet
4 Artist-in-Residence Studios
Completed: October 2008

Client: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Architects: Grimshaw Architects "

Fonte: http://www.arcspace.com/architects/grimshaw/dbba/dbba.html


Espero que ajude a expandir horizontes para a criação dos projectos!

João Pereira