Spaces by Ezra: Building Example 5

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 5

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater

Architect - Bing Thom Architects

Location - Washington, D.C.

Size - 200,000 square feet

Completion date - October 2010

It can definitely be said that the 200,000-square-foot Arena Stage, just renovated and expanded by Bing Thom Architects, improves upon what was found. Thom’s swallowing up the lumpy late Modernist theaters in a glass case may have concerned some preservationists, but it helped tie the two together on this triangular site in the southwest part of the city — initially part of an urban renewal area that may be further uplifted by a waterfront redevelopment plan. Yet the overall scheme does deploy some quixotic design gestures that ignore certain notions of scale, proportion, and the use of a consistent architectural vocabulary.