launching pad theater

The Launching Pad Theater is the design for a theater on the Cranbrook Campus in Bloomfield Hills, MI. Design in Fall 2009 as part of a structurally determinant studio at the Illinois Institute of Technology's College of Architecture. The goal of this project was to utilize new technologies to enhance the theater experience, with inspiration coming from U2’s 360 tour. The concept for the theater is hovering and turning the structure into a space ship. To achieve this effect I used tension membranes for the seating bowls and geodesics for the enclosing structure. To eliminate the use of traditional sets, the stage is built entirely of Jumbotrons, there are hanging LED curtains, and the ETFE cushion enclosure can be illuminated to create a digital theater. The lobby is no longer a separate a room but becomes blurred with the seating and there are multiple stages to create a cohesive experience throughout the entire building.