Diller Scofidio + Renfro

The Creative Arts Center . Brown university .  Providence

source: Diller Scofidio + Renfro . Brown university . photo: Iwan Baan . more: archdaily

The Creative Arts Center is intended to advance new directions in teaching and research, and cross boundaries between the arts, sciences and the humanities. The 36,000-square-foot building includes a 200-seat recital hall and 35mm screening facility, a recording studio, multimedia lab, gallery space, and large multi-purpose production studios. Next in the species of the loft typology, the building is made up of large uninterrupted floor plates with interior surfaces ranging from raw to refined. The building program utilizes three floor plates that fill the site envelope.

These floor plates are cut in the short axis along a shear line, and displaced in section to create six half levels, each with different technical and physical properties. The structured misalignment is a sectional opportunity, allowing each floor to interface two others conjoined by a shear glass wall. The landscape shears as well, half inclined toward the entrance lobby and half descending along the rake of the recital hall. Students and passersby are invited into this outdoor theater to witness activities on stage or screen. The building fosters creative exchange throughout. The landings of the main circulation stair are expanded and conceived as vertically stacked living rooms for serendipitous and planned encounters.

full video: CAC student-generated animation