The Electronic Media and Performing Arts Center task force held the first of its two scheduled meetings about the design and planning process Wednesday, January 31.
The meetings are intended to inform and to consider input from the Rensselaer student body, faculty, staff, and others interested about the current status of the EMPAC project.
The meetings present a "lively and wonderful exchange of ideas … exactly the kind of exchange the building is meant to stimulate and, once it is up and running, to house," said David Haviland, vice president for Institute advancement.
Oliver Holmes, acting senior director of campus planning and facilities design, said the meeting was "very productive and useful" for members of the campus community to share ideas.
Everyone attending the meeting recognized the fact that the building is essential for RPI to become more of a well-rounded, prominent institution in the future, since the majority of first-tier universities in the nation have performing arts centers.
Holmes noted that the building is "almost like this beacon that says ‘Here’s Rensselaer.’"
During the meeting, a source of confusion was the particular technologies around which the building should be designed, such as wireless access. Task Force Chair John Tichy answered, "I think it’s a particularly dangerous thing to whet it to specific technologies."
When considering the parking issues involved in the project, Holmes said that the issue of structured parking was not solved yet and would be under consideration.
Some students were concerned that the student body was not being represented fairly in the design competition of the project. Tichy responded that the task force must "invite based on a track record" and added, "It really isn’t realistic" for the students to design the building.
The list of candidate architects announced at the meeting include Laurie Hawkinson and Henry Smith-Miller, Gluckman/Koolhaas; Thom Mayne, UN Studio (Van Berkel); Toyo Ito, Renzo Piano; Norman Foster, Nicholas Grimshaw, SHOP (Buro Happold); Elam Scogin, Vinoly/Rittelman; Rafeal Moneo, Diller and Scofido; Billy Tsien and Todd Williams, Patkau, Hertzog and Demeuron; Ehrlich, Polshek, Lesser/Davis Brody, Bernad Tshumi, Alvaro Siza, and Adel Santos.
Other significant issues raised during the meeting include the building’s local community integration, and ideas and thoughts about the particular activities and events that it should house.
Tichy believes that the EMPAC project is currently at the stage of considering general concepts, but is advancing well. Describing EMPAC’s progress, Tichy said, "It’s a sort of iterative convergent solution process."
The project’s first meeting was "very exciting and interesting," added Tichy. "There was good student representation. They had many interesting ideas."
EMPAC will hold another meeting today from 1 to 3 pm in CII 4050 for those who did not attend the first one. If you would like to find out more or offer input about EMPAC, e-mail John Tichy at tichyj@rpi.edu.
