DM
—
Dance Machine
Dance Infrastructure

Dance Machine

Infrastructure as urban performance. Serving as both a backdrop to elegant theatrical dances and a framework for holding a wandering public, the Dance Machine enacts performance through both its program and its existence as a merged extension of the Queensboro Bridge.

Volumes are bunched together and bound by a continuous public path. The massing seeks the most opportunistic relation between the public path and the clustering of common programs.A continuous path allows the urban flaneur to move uninhibited around and through the various experiences. The path finishes as "Cheap Seats" are dropped down from the rooftop performance space—rewarding the curiosity of the flaneur with the ability to watch performances without paying.

The building frame that holds the dance spaces and public path is an appendage of the Queensboro Bridge. It mimics the found structural logic of the bridge and uses it to cantilever much of the mass above the plaza and street below while maintaining a certain degree of openness and internal visibility.

PROGRAM: Dance Studios and Performance Hall

CONTEXT: New York City, New York, USA

SITE: Queensboro Bridge, 59th Street & 1st Avenue

CRITIC: Ben Pell

YEAR:
2011
AWARDS:
NEWS:
No items found.

Institutional

Infrastructure

Urbanism

Long section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stageLong section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stageLong section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stageLong section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stage

A continuous path allows the urban flaneur to move uninhibited around and through the various experiences. The path finishes as "Cheap Seats" are dropped down from the rooftop performance space—rewarding the curiosity of the flaneur with the ability to watch performances without paying.

Long section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stage
Long section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stage

PROJECT IMAGES

Perspective showing the back of the DM performance center with the stack of private practice dance rooms on the backsidePerspective showing the back of the DM performance center with the stack of private practice dance rooms on the backsidePerspective showing the back of the DM performance center with the stack of private practice dance rooms on the backsidePerspective showing the back of the DM performance center with the stack of private practice dance rooms on the backside
Floor plan animations revealing the various levels of the DM performance centerFloor plan animations revealing the various levels of the DM performance centerFloor plan animations revealing the various levels of the DM performance centerFloor plan animations revealing the various levels of the DM performance center
Initial concept sketch for distributing the various studio and theatre programs of the DM performance centerInitial concept sketch for distributing the various studio and theatre programs of the DM performance centerInitial concept sketch for distributing the various studio and theatre programs of the DM performance centerInitial concept sketch for distributing the various studio and theatre programs of the DM performance center
Section drawing cutting through the road, the DM performance hall, and the Queensboro Bridge Section drawing cutting through the road, the DM performance hall, and the Queensboro Bridge Section drawing cutting through the road, the DM performance hall, and the Queensboro Bridge Section drawing cutting through the road, the DM performance hall, and the Queensboro Bridge
Perspective of the DM dance center from the street intersection showing the construction merging with the Queensboro BridgePerspective of the DM dance center from the street intersection showing the construction merging with the Queensboro BridgePerspective of the DM dance center from the street intersection showing the construction merging with the Queensboro BridgePerspective of the DM dance center from the street intersection showing the construction merging with the Queensboro Bridge
Series of conceptual massing models organizing performance spaces and public paths connecting the DM project to the bridgeSeries of conceptual massing models organizing performance spaces and public paths connecting the DM project to the bridgeSeries of conceptual massing models organizing performance spaces and public paths connecting the DM project to the bridgeSeries of conceptual massing models organizing performance spaces and public paths connecting the DM project to the bridge
Perspective of the DM performance massing attached to the Queensboro bridge viewed from above the street intersectionPerspective of the DM performance massing attached to the Queensboro bridge viewed from above the street intersectionPerspective of the DM performance massing attached to the Queensboro bridge viewed from above the street intersectionPerspective of the DM performance massing attached to the Queensboro bridge viewed from above the street intersection
Collection of precedent images combining the cinematic qualities of the Queensboro Bridge with Fellini's 8 1/2 performancesCollection of precedent images combining the cinematic qualities of the Queensboro Bridge with Fellini's 8 1/2 performancesCollection of precedent images combining the cinematic qualities of the Queensboro Bridge with Fellini's 8 1/2 performancesCollection of precedent images combining the cinematic qualities of the Queensboro Bridge with Fellini's 8 1/2 performances
Long section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stageLong section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stageLong section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stageLong section perspective of the main DM performance hall with studio spaces, lower facilities and upper stage
Model of the DM performance center highlighting the free public path for stealing glimpses into the performance hallsModel of the DM performance center highlighting the free public path for stealing glimpses into the performance hallsModel of the DM performance center highlighting the free public path for stealing glimpses into the performance hallsModel of the DM performance center highlighting the free public path for stealing glimpses into the performance halls

MORE PROJECTS

Seeing Park Avenue as an underutilized zone that connects four vibrant neighborhoods from 42nd Street to 144th Street, Infrastructural Infill is a study testing the potential to locate a combination of mixed-use housing and transportation in the residual spaces caused by urban infrastructure.
QTCT is tasked to blend these two identities onto one site—a give and take relationship between beach ambitions and urban necessities. QTCT is a sampling of two worlds: on one hand it is the embodiment of the language of the beach and on the other it is a detailed and exacting built urban space.
The CART live/work housing prototype adds a vertical profile to downtown while converting an underutilized public path into an urban gesture by introducing of a specialized food cart zone in New Haven. The CART residents would rent and appropriate the moving space as a means of expanding their zone.
The YELE music studio competition, underway before the earthquake, must respond now, but plan for the future of the community. Music is relief in a time of tragedy. The goal is to meet the most basic survival needs now while leaving spaces for future growth through self sustaining phases.
In Tempe there are two pedestrian axes: Mill Avenue and Palm Walk. Mill Avenue is successful and Palm Walk is not. Is there a way to make the palm trees useful to the students? The PEP structure is powered by buried hydraulic pressure systems giving vertical movement to the layer/palm interface.
The RACA project must meet two demands: A. REFLECTION (museum) or B. CONTINUATION (practice + addition). The current program and its stagnancy has left the site forgotten—it is a typical static museum on a living site. The site and addition must constantly change through the participation of people.
Dimensions.com is an ongoing reference database of dimensioned drawings documenting the standard measurements and sizes of the everyday objects and spaces that make up our world.
The challenge of creating a pair of studio apartments that can fill a lifted 16'x16' void necessitates the creation of a quick, mobile, and opportunistic building system that can react to the found conditions of the site. Access to the site is limited and the ground must be free.