Programming and Operations, DAG Notes, March 26th

•    The theater should not have two levels, largely because sightlines would be obscured
•    Significant skepticism on ability of lighting (ie darkening seats not used) to impact size appearance of space since lights are turned off for films anyways
•    Strong desire for two screening spaces: 1 larger for 300-500 with raked seating, 1 smaller “blackbox” with moveable seating for 50-100; the two screening spaces should have a shared projection room
•    People want movie watching venues
•    The building design should be driven by programming and operation rather than structure
•    Digital screening could dovetail with WID
•    Cheaper to build-in option now rather than retrofitting later
•    The German Club (Film Haben) is a good example of an organization that would use such venues; their current screening location, Van Hise, is not preferable and Union South would be much better
•    Current depictions of art gallery are concerning because they show too much curved wall space, which does not provide enough display options; moveable wall space would also be nice
•    The art gallery space needs to be securable
•    Wall niches throughout building could provide space to display 3-D art
•    Seating in the art gallery would be another nice feature
•    Penn State provides an interesting example of a gallery within a gallery, as well as the potential for an outdoor sculpture garden
•    Concern that floor plan won’t fully utilize space
•    A rooftop terrace/garden would be major plus by acting as a potential draw for people and could serve as an additional music/food venue
•    Union South needs its own niche (ie rooftop garden or waterfall)
•    In terms of usable outdoor space, the ground level won’t work because of Wendt (particularly because of the sunlight shading effect)
•    The rooftop garden/terrace is an opportunity to innovate
•    Need building magnet => not just one magnet but multiple in neighborhood (try to take advantage of surrounding attractions provided by other buildings, most notable the sciences

~ by Dan on April 13, 2008.