A ROOM WITHOUT WALLS: OPTIMIZING AN OUTDOOR MUSIC SHELL TO MAINTAIN VIEWS AND MAXIMIZE REFLECTIONS

摘要

In spring 2014, the Tippet Rise Art Center commissioned Arup Acoustics to design an acoustical shell, nicknamed the "Tiara," for hosting outdoor chamber music concerts for an audience of 50-60 people. The shell was intended to be temporary, demountable and transportable to different locations across the art center's site, spread across 11,000 acres of rugged, rolling ranchland in south central Montana (fig. 1). The clients wanted to allow audience members and performers to engage visually with the site's natural surroundings while enjoying the acoustical intimacy of a small room. To balance the dual requirements of exposure and enclosure, we developed a concept for a "room without walls," beginning with a simple box, cutting out surfaces to open views of the surrounding valleys and mountains and optimizing the remaining corners to provide an enveloping array of reflections to the performers and audience.