brooklyn music academy
beginnings
|
The parameters enveloping the project lie in the unattended context of Red Hook. Designing a Music Academy for the area was far from a practical location for such a building type. As Red Hook was known for its decay in social classes and deteriorating conditions, Red Hook has seemed to make a turn-around for the better, and is continuing in its efforts to live up to the new Brooklyn expectations and its surrounding neighborhoods. To design a Music Academy for the area was truly something out of Red Hook's own comfort zone, therefore making the task that much more challenging yet fascinating.
|
siteTucked in a corner of Brooklyn, Red Hook still finds itself playing catch-up with the other limbs of Brooklyn. The neighborhood has still yet to be a destination place for Brooklyn's inhabitants, thus designing and introducing a completely new piece of architecture for the area posed an architectural freedom within.
|
program1// Major Performance Hall
2// Minor Performance Hall 3// Practice Rooms 4// Classrooms 5// Administrative Offices 6// Shop 7// Lobby 8// Egress & Circulation |
approach
Because of the state and conditions Red Hook was in, the approach was to handle both Performance Halls in distinguishable manners; the Major dedicated for public and private engagement and the Minor dedicated for private engagement. In this way, the Major Hall's stage was placed in the center of the site on grade level with open public circulation navigating through the site. This move allowed patrons to occupy the enclosed seating while passerby pedestrians may meander off tangent of Van Dyke Street and enjoy the musical performance as well. In doing so, the performer and stage were what both brought together and separated both types of visitors. Above the Major Hall was occupied by Practice Rooms with circulatory "arms" embracing and connecting both ends of the site to the classrooms. On the final level, the Minor Hall rested above the Practice Rooms, thus creating sectionally a musical core with another set of circulatory arms reaching the Administrative Offices. The separation between musical program and other program formed an open courtyard allowing light to playfully touch many of the spaces.
public space
As an additional program to the primary program, a request for an outdoor public space was given. In essence it would be a secondary means to access the site from the lot directly across the street, which is currently being utilized as a parking lot for a grocery market. The task was to physically bridge the parking lot with the proposal, making it accessible in two separate layers for both visitors and students.