Spaces by Ezra: Building Example 2

Project Overview

It has been a long time custom that people go to the theaters to both see and to be seen. As I approached the end of my studies, I took on the challenge of designing a theater.

The focus of my design falls primarily into the category of Theaters with a secondary attempt to provide spaces that allow media production for live TV shows and video recording studios. In essence the spaces within the building will not only be experienced first hand but also by means of modern technology.

Performing arts date back centuries, western performing arts start as as early as the Classical period, 6th century BC, ushered in by the poets like Sophocles and lead up today to play writers like Tyler Perry. These events create large gatherings for an audience to experience live entertainment.

Today it is still done, but technology has allowed us to reach the audience without the large gatherings. Both options are coveted. Feel Free to post any comments you may have.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Building Example 2

62 Center for Theater and Dance
Architect - William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.

Location - Williams College, Williamstown, MA

Size - 126,000 Square feet

The ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance named, at Allen’s request, for his graduating class, was designed by William Rawn, FAIA, whose Boston-based firm conceived the much-acclaimed Seiji Ozawa Hall in Tanglewood, Massachusetts (1994).
To consolidate its reputation as a performing arts center and accommodate the famed Williamstown Theatre Festival held in the summer, the college needed a complex of three theaters: MainStage, a proscenium-arched main theater that could seat 550; CenterStage, a black-box space that could hold about 150; plus the renovated Adams Memorial, a combination thrust/proscenium stage with 200 or so seats. In addition, it desired a large dance-rehearsal space and the requisite number of dressing rooms, teaching studios, plus a costume workshop, and faculty offices.