Tanzakademie


Year: 2013, third year architecture studio, spring semester, Tulane University
Duration: one semester
Studio Instructor: Bruce Goodwin
Studio Coordinator: Irene Keil
Hardware/Software: Laser cutter, Revit, AutoCad, Rhino, Grasshopper for Rhino, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign

   
Entrance render and diagrams (click to enlarge)


New Orleans Dance Academy 

The program for this project was a dance academy in the warehouse district of New Orleans. On a small square site the building contains dance studios, a small theatre, and cafe for the dancers. The project aim was to maximize space and comfort in the small footprint of the site. 

   
Drawings (click to enlarge)

Parti

Tanzakademie is a study in the relationship between site and program. The street corner on which the building is situated is an intersection of two one way streets. The site draws the pedestrian into the edge of the space and twists them around the central courtyard. The program, divided into service and served, is wrapped around the courtyard, placing served spaces on the street edge, and service spaces in the back of the site. The service spaces are stacked four high, maximizing limited space, and the served spaces are double height, demonstrating programmatic heiarchy.



  
Model pictures (click to enlarge)


The Facade

The facade draws on the central circulation and relates it to the program as a dance school. The shape of the shading devices are derived from a sequential map of a pirouette. As the pirouette progresses, the facade moves around the building. The visual map was translated into depth using a color map in Grasshopper for Rhino.



   
Interior cafe render and detailed wall section (click to enlarge)