Nathaniel Gillette
Laminar Flow
For ARCH 551: Stairs, Stands, and Ziggurats - Sarah Blankenbaker
Program: Performance Venue
Size: 125' x 96' x 42'
Floor Area: 15,000 sf.
Laminar Flow is a multistage performance venue designed as an oppositional response to Archizoom's No-Stop City. Where No-Stop City presents an 'open, but interior' plan, Laminar Flow argues for a 'closed, but exterior' plan, and in doing so offers structured circulation and clearly bounded areas for visitors to move through and enjoy.
The project's form is separated into two interdependent halves: the outer areas are low, supporting structures offering circumferential circulation and access to the inner area, which has a vertical design and houses the main performance spaces and viewing areas. Together, they present as a singular, precariously solid mass.
Process Work
Initial massing focused on arranging distinct stages and viewing stands.
Second Iteration
The second iteration added considerations of occupancy and line of sight, and added a stepped form to connect the various stages and seating areas.