Final touches are being put on the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center to ready the building for its grand opening on Friday. The $141.7 million project broke ground on September 26, 2003; now, five years later, it promises to bring many new concepts and technologies to the RPI community.
The building is wired with temperature sensors throughout, and even the pane glass façade has received a touch of energy conservation innovation. The space between the panes and along the joints is filled with a water/glycol solution which works to improve the insular qualities of the glass wall, but keep the glass from growing cold. This technology should keep costs of heating the facility down.
EMPAC houses a “completely unique combination of facilities,” President Shirley Ann Jackson said, ranging from a 1,200-seat concert hall to a variety of studios.
The elevators at the top entrance are enclosed in glass so that the gears and mechanics of the elevator can be seen in true Rensselaer fashion, according to Jackson.
The fifth floor is home to an area that will feature both a café and area for students to study and socialize. The space is also wired with lights to allow for impromptu skits, and connects to an outside terrace that overlooks downtown Troy.
EMPAC features four major performance venues within the building. The largest is the 11,000 square-feet concert hall, the acoustics of which were designed by a committee led by former Head of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering John Tichy. The committee researched various designs for concert halls in the world. One of the most unique features of this hall is the use of Nomex fabric for the acoustic ceiling. The fabric, in addition to being fireproof, reflects high-frequency sound and increases mid- and low-level frequency sound; according to Jackson, EMPAC is the first venue in the world to use the fabric to enhance acoustics.
EMPAC’s 400-seat theater is equipped with a 40-by-80 foot stage and a 70-foot tall flytower­—similar to the technology used in the Spiderman movies. In addition, the theater can be used with or without its orchestra pit, and has projection screens and detachable loudspeakers that create an immersive virtual environment.
EMPAC will also feature two unique studios suited for either music or dance presentations that have sound absorbing and reflecting panels on the wall. Both these and all other studios within the building are built so that they may be used simultaneously because of each room’s acoustic isolation.
The part of EMPAC that juts out on the Eighth Street side features four Artist-in-Residence studios, each acoustically isolated. A program for visiting artists will be launched later this year, according to Jackson.
The building is linked to the new Computational Center for Nanotechnology Innovations as well as the studios of WMHT-TV. Although the campus radio station WRPI decided not to relocate to the space in EMPAC since it was smaller than their current studio, the station will still have the opportunity to work in the building.
At least eight faculty members are already looking to move their research into the building, according to Jackson, with topics of research spanning across a wide spectrum from computer science to architecture.
Jackson quelled worries that the studios wouldn’t be available to students by stating that groups will be able to schedule practice time in them. To do this efficiently, a steering committee will be created, which will be geared toward ensuring the space is used well. Although the committee will not include students, Jackson assured that students will have input through various mediums.
“We want to do important things and optimize the use of space,” Jackson explained.
Although the landscaping in front of the building looks unfinished at present, Vice President for Administration Claude Rounds said that everything will be “ready to go” by the time of the ribbon-cutting.
Jackson summed the EMPAC project up, saying, “The facility will serve both as a creative platform for the campus and as a statement about Rensselaer’s ongoing self-transformation.”
