project35:Performance
Contents |
Introduction
The Floating Theatres interior is designed in a way which allows theatre directors to modify it to suit their plays specific requirements.
Why? The Floating Theatre isn't just designed for the audience, it should also be great to work with as a artist. The theatre director should be able to make the theatre most suitable to its play. Although this approach might seem suitable only for theatres, it is a general critique of the generic architectural design process. The design processes adopted by many, if not most, contemporary architectural practices involve only cursory end user input. This is perhaps an attempt at self-preservation on the side of the architect. That is, by asserting their value as designers, professionals with knowledge and skills not accessible to the layperson, architects attempt to maintain an important role within society. This doesn't seem to have the quality of the built object as its end goal. Therefor, the Floating Theater allows those with most knowledge about the main viewing angles, relation between actors and spectators and location of props (and the change of all these throughout the play) to alter the theatre as they please.
How? To make sure the theatre is still usable as an architectural object, some rules are set up. The rules are linked to the four main functions within the Floating Theatre: stage, seating, water and foyer. The built-in rules are;
- The height of each seating platform follows from (FORMULA)
- A row of at least one platform wide forms a continuous connection between the (main)stage and the backstage.
- A row of at least one platform wide forms a continuous connection between the seating and the foyer.
- A row of at least one platform wide forms a continuous connection between the foyer and the entrance space.
- The platforms within one foyer are of the same height (wheelchair accesibility, TOPHEIGHT, LOWHEIGHT).
- The stage default height is +1m above water level.
- The default height of a "water"platform is -1m
The performance of the building is defined by two elements:
- The flexibility of the userinterface to control the interior of the building
- The physical building (platforms and loadbearing structure)
The userinterface is explained through it's global setup and a demonstration video. The seating/stage construction (interior), the protective shell and the surrounding landscaping are reviewed on three primary aspects; structure, material and acces.
User interface
The theatre director will be in full control over the theatres interior. By 'painting' on a digital canvas he'll be able to assign functionality to the adjustable platforms.
Setup
In this project, the userinterface (in Processing) receives the global coordinates from the CAD program (Rhino+Grasshopper) and sends back the same coordinates plus functions (see figure).
In this way the software part is proven, but it's not connected to the physical model. Learning to connect Arduino to electrically controlled pumps which would inflate the physical platforms was not feasible within the time set for this project. In the demonstration below, the working of the software is shown. Also, there is a (very) crude video of us testing our physical model with some half-filled bottles inside them for buoyancy.
Software
Proof of concept
Seating performance
The seating and stage are made up of the same dynamic components. These components are floating boxes, able to rise or sink depending on the directors compositional preferences. Also, they can move during the play. This requires the seating components to be submersed in a controlled way. Also, they gain stability through connections with other components.
Structural performance
Being a cultural institution, the theater relies on funding (subsidies and investments) and ticket sales for its succes. The amount of money people are willing to spend on cultural acitvities depends mostly on their disposable income and declines during economic downturn. Subsidies also depend heavily on the state of the economy. Therefore the theater will be able to grow when the economy is strong, but remain the same when economic conditions are not so favourable. It can also grow based on special events (eg. concerts or the Rotterdam Film Festival). Therefore a modular construction system is chosen, capable of spanning over 40m. It's build-up is shown below.
