MIXOLOGY

Brooklyn, New York // Columbia University, GSAPP // Year 2, Semester 1 // 2016 // Team Members: Edward Palka, Madeline Haslam, Alexis Oppenheimer, Udit Goel

MIXOLOGY, a “Brewing Theater” was designed to seamlessly blend two distinct programs together - a theatre and a microbrewery. The team aspired to do so by “blending” the Back of House and Front of House facilities of both programs together through visual moments of dialogue and interaction between them throughout the architectural experience.

This is further emphasized by a focus on “transparency” in the building. By placing the auditorium of the theatre in the middle of the footprint, and then either using curtain or foldable walls, the discrete spaces are constantly viewed from all directions of the building, drawing people through the architectural spaces. This also allows for multi-purpose functionality of the building, where the entire footprint could either be divided to house all three facilities, or opened up to larger public spaces for events requiring a bigger space.

The facade of the building reflects this “blending of programs” concept. Retaining the historic facade, which sits near the middle of the main elevation, the building uses horizontal louvres, which are calibrated for site specificity to help condition the interior spaces during the day, whilst maintaining a transparency to the outside. The brewery draws on a warehouse typology through the use of brickwork. However, the merging of these two vastly different facade systems was deeply studied, and ultimately a “rotating brick screen” was developed, to once again, “blend” the facades together from glass to brick and back again.

As such, the concept applies both programmatically and on the architectural expression side of the project.

Initially conceived in Rhino, the scheme was developed heavily in Revit. Drawings were then further detailed for 2D purposes using AutoCAD. Diagrams were created using Illustrator to express the architectural and sustainability concepts.

RESPONSIBILITY HIGHLIGHTS:

• - Concept studies, development and diagramming;
• - Conceptual planning and sectional layering;
• - Facade studies and detailing;
• - Final submission booklet composition.