EPAC Phase 2B Documentation

CENTER FOR EXPERIMENTAL MEDIA AND PERFORMANCE GUNN CHAIYAPATRANUN PROJECT 2B PHASE II STUDIO KING SPRING 48-205

Initial program arrangement in axonometric diagram (above) and elevational diagram (below)

Building designed to be open near the corner of intersection, and have the service and delivery loading space be nearest to the two nearest parking lots.

Developed program organization in axonometric diagram showing black box half submerged underground, allowing for more space requiring natural light to be above grade, and the action of descending into the black box to happen.

Initial formal models showing the black box theater’s interaction with the different floor plates. Conceptual model showing set back floor plates to allow more natural light to penetrate onto the lower floors. (Right)

Using ramps as a means of transition between levels, but also as a platform for programs to happen, with the black box as the main focal point around which everything else revolves.

First pass of program organization via a detailed orthogonal plan. Details like stairs and furniture incorporated to better grasp the sense of size and proportion. (Drawn in 16th inch scale)

(Right) Reorganization of plan in elevational diagram. Private spaces are higher above the ground, and theater and gallery spaces placed closest to ground level. The black box theater half underground also facilitates transportation of visitors, as descending takes less energy and effort.

(Bottom left) Sectional view of potential program organization. Administrators’ lounge has outdoor space looking outwards towards Penn avenue, but artists’ residences get an interior courtyard facing Kelly-Strayhorn for more privacy.

First pass of formal modeling. Reflecting the desire to create reflective surfaces that pedestrians can become a part of.

The programs and floorplates inside are shaped by the form of the exterior of the building.

First form played with angles of the facade walls, imagined to be reflective, becoming a live wall that reflects pedestrians and the fastly changing neighborhood. which in and of itself becomes an artwork. This is especially appropriate for a center of experimentational art and new media and an impermanent gallery space where all the exhibits and artworks are contantly changing.

Precedent (Bottom Left): MOCA at Cleveland by Farshid Moussavi

Consequent models (2), introducing glazing of different opacities, which allows for not only privacy, but also a surface on which footage and slides can be projected, allowing both users inside and passersby to view these projections from both inside and outside of the building.

Using Blinds that build in thickness as it goes higher to give higher levels of privacy to the programs on higher floors. Human scale and context emphasizes and improves the understanding of proportions in the project.

Precedent (Top Right): Health Department Building, Bilbao by Coll-Barreau Arquitectos Faceted glass facade breaks up the reflections and redefines the city being reflected,.

People get to interact with their reflections almost like a “house of mirrors� the scale of a billboard, which advertises the building to be an exciting space fit for the rebirth of East Liberty.

URBAN CONSIDERATIONS

At ground level, the new form is chamfered to allow easier physical access around the corner, a style evident in the city planning of the district of Eixample, Barcelona, Spain (below).

South east corner of the roof is beveled at an angle to not overshadow the Kelly Strayhorn theater’s facade, as a historical landmark. Inspired by the 45 degree angle of Parisian roofs, a city planning policy imposed in the mid 19th century. (Top Right)

Smart glass (can switch from transparent to semiopaque instantaneously) to be used on the south facade. Precedent: Audi A8 Showroom, Seoul, Korea (Below)

Current form of facade. West facade (left) is fractured in a fashion reminiscent of the Health Department in Bilbao. South Facade (Right) is mainly flat to allow for 2D projections viewable from the steps of the East Liberty Prebysterian Church.

Current set of floor plans in equal detail as the first pass, with programs meeting square footage requirements and orthogonal plans fitted into the new form of the facade. This page contains the basement level.

First collage, showing the interior of the black box with the top level opened at ground level. This allows for the black box to be used as auxiliary exhibition and event spaces when it is not used as a theater.

Inspired by old Kabuki Theaters, especially the Konpira Theater widely accepted as the oldest remaining of its type. Built before electricity was introduced, the top and first levels of the theater will be shut to give a pitch dark atmosphere during performances and opened before and after plays and during intermission when bento boxes will be circulated.

The technology that will allow for this is inspired by the storm shutters known as “amado� found in traditional Japanese houses (Below). These shutters are panels that will collapse into a convenient storage box (Right in bottom right image). Giving an opening that is free of structures or folded sections of panels (the way an internal Fusuma divider would work).

Inspired by the Akron art museum by Coop Himmelblau which retains the original walls of an existing postal office which was also a historic landmark in the area, the walls of the Kelly Strayhorn vestibule will be kept as the wall of the new media center.

This will not only allow for a material recognition of the theater’s physical presence nextdoor, but also allow for artists to do installations on, hang artwork, or even graffiti the wall, allowing it to be a constantly changing canvas of impermanent arts. A blank slate perfect for an “experimentational” center.

Precedent: Graffiti works by BLU (bottom right) and political ones by Banksy

Most current model with new form of facade and corresponding floor plates.

Showing relationships with the context.

Notice the beveled roof on the southeast corner lowers the facade to be on the same level as the Kelly-Strayhorn.