헐리우드를 밝히는 그랑드 아치. 영화산업의 메카, 헐리우드 중심부에 자리한 에머슨 컬리지의 커뮤니케이션 및 아트 커리큘럼센터는 대학의 고유한 이미지를 구현하는 심볼이자 학생들의 다양한 교내활동을 지원하는 건축공간으로 제공된다. 건축공간은 학생들을 위한 기숙사와 커뮤니티를 위한 퍼블릭 스페이스 그리고 영화관련 수업을 배우는 클래스로 구분, 조닝된다. 먼저 그랑드 아치의 거대한 두개의 기둥은 217명의 학생들을 위한 기숙사로, 10층 상부위에 위치한 헬리콥터 계류장으로 연결되며 자연스레 거대한 보이드를 형성한다. 그리고 내부에 자리한 클래스, 어드민 오피스는 다이나믹한 형태미가 압권으로 다양한 레벨의 테라스와 사이공간을 형성, 내외부 연속된 활동 에너지를 발생시킨다. 여기에 기숙사 내부면에 설치된 메탈 패브릭은 동적인 에너지를 배가시키며 학생들을 위한 스크린, 무대 및 다양한 영화관련 이벤트 장의 백그라운드가 된다. 이러한 공간적 특징은 건축을 넘어서 도시와 조우하는 경험을 전달, 헐리우드 내 새로운 랜드마크로 제안된다.
reviewed by SJ
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Emerson is renowned for its
communication and arts curriculum. Located in the heart of Hollywood,
Emerson College Los Angeles (ELA) defines the college's identity in the
centre of the entertainment industry and the second largest city in the
United States. The new facility establishes a permanent home on Sunset
Boulevard for Emerson College's existing undergraduate internship
program that will extend the ELA experience to students studying in any
of the seven disciplines that are offered through the School of
Communication and the School of the Arts. Additionally, ELA will offer
post-graduate, certificate, and professional study programs. The new
facility will also host workshops, lectures, and other events to engage
with alumni and the LA community.
Bringing student housing, instructional facilities, and administrative
offices to one location, ELA condenses the diversity of a college campus
into an urban site. Evoking the concentrated energy of East-Coast
metropolitan centres in an iconic Los Angeles setting, a rich dialogue
emerges between students' educational background and their professional
futures.
Fundamental to the Emerson Los Angeles experience, student living circumstances give structure to the overall building. Housing up to 217 students, the domestic zones frame a dynamic core dedicated to creativity, learning, and social interaction. Composed of two slender residential towers connected by a helistop, the 10-storey square frame encloses a central open volume to create a flexible outdoor "room".
A sculpted form housing classrooms and administrative offices weaves through the void, defining multi-level terraces and active interstitial spaces that foster informal social activity and creative cross-pollination. Looking out onto the multi-level terrace, exterior corridors to student suites and common rooms are shaded by an undulating, textured metal scrim spanning the full height of the towers' interior face.
Looking to the local context, the centre finds a provocative
precedent in the interiority of Hollywood film studios, where outwardly
regular facades house flexible, fantastical spaces within. With rigging
for screens, media connections, sound, and lighting incorporated into
the facade's metal framework, this dynamic visual backdrop also serves
as a flexible armature for outdoor performances. The entire building
becomes a stage set for student films, screenings, and industry events,
with the Hollywood sign, the city of Los Angeles, and the Pacific Ocean
in the distance providing added scenery.
Anticipated to achieve a LEED Gold rating, the new centre champions Emerson's commitment to both sustainable design and community responsibility. Wrapping the building's northwest corner, a green wall underscores the towers' actively changing exterior skin. Connected to weather stations that track the local climate, temperature, and sun angle, the automated sunshade system opens and closes horizontal fins outside the high-performance glass curtain-wall to minimise heat gain while maximising daylight and views. Further green initiatives include the use of recycled and rapidly renewable building materials, installation of efficient fixtures to reduce water use by 40%, energy savings in heating and cooling through a passive valence system, and a building management and commissioning infrastructure to monitor and optimise efficiency of all systems.
from dezeen