Dance Space
dance space from a basketball court to an art studio reinvisioning sustainability giving life to refuse
Construction sites are often the locations to find wasted materials. Walking past such a site at the under renovation Student Rec Center, a basketball court was being ripped out due to water damage. When asking the foreman of the future of the wood flooring, we were fortunate enough to save it from a gruesome life in a landfill. After 3 truck loads of salvaged wood were collected, the stage was set for phase 2. Phase 2 involved the redesigning of an abandoned art studio to eventually creating a space for graduate dancers to practice for rehersals. The extent of the course involved 5 teams designing various schemes, ultimately leading to our team’s project being selected for construction. Our team included myself, as lead designer, a dance student as a consultant, and 2 other architecture students.
1 2"
47'-10
1 2"
43'-3"
38'-7"
47'-10
The space, which at one time held art studios, was a spattering of graffiti and held the canvases of student’s creativity. The 2,000 sq. ft. space, since being abandoned had gone through a time of degradation, everything from the heat, to weather, to even animals had made it quite impossible for activity. After weeks of cleaning up and ripping down of walls, a blank canvas for creativity emerged. The project dealt ultimately dealt with using every square inch of the salvaged wood as possible.Wooden flooring, as seen typically, masks the intricacies of its connections and support system. The mythology and the upgrade of the mundane deals with revealing the hidden face, allowing for the wood to show a different side of its construction. Utilizing drilled holes and wires running through them, the individual, puzzle like pieces are connected, creating a curtain like screen. The screens are strong enough to support over 120 lbs., and are hung from beams above the dropped ceiling. The curtains, when constructed are 3 ft wide, and over 8 feet long, and are later stitched together in 9 foot intervals. The project has won many grants for sustainable work, and has been published in various local newspapers, and the annual school publication, Thawed.