Sustainable Design in Light/Seating for Performing Arts Spaces are the subjects of this week's blog. Using your text, the library, periodicals and the Internet gather all the info you can find and share on the blog. Remember to find the syllabus for the class in the drop off and on OLS for your reading assignments and the preliminary work for your projects.
Remember also to bring your "Island Getaway" projects to class next week.
Contact me if you have questions: todonnell@aii.edu or 941-321-8447
Please visit the blog several times throughout the week to each other's posts.
Off you go.
~Tim
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It is Friday and nobody has posted yet from group 2.
Tim is sad.
Remember, 20% of your grade.
~T
According to the majority of the information I found during my on-line research, theaters are now beginning to switch to more environmentally friendly procedures and products since they were built during a time when sustainable protocol wasn’t as largely accepted or implemented.
I did find some exciting products marketed specifically for theaters’ lighting; seating, on the other hand, was a different story…
Arcola Theater in London was one of the forerunners for making the switch to greener lighting systems. In fact, it is said that they have saved up to 70% of their normal energy use by having a fuel cell powered studio. Arcola provided lighting for the entire arena through a “mixture of LED and low power tungsten technologies. The 5kW Gencore fuel cell powered the entire lighting rig with hydrogen provided by the BOC. (1) The fuel cell operates almost silently producing nothing but electricity and clean water.” Another major challenge this theater had to face didn’t just deal with the atmospheric lighting for performances, but with also fighting the daylight from the out doors that was not completely blocked out of the arena. (2)
LED rope lighting is a sustainable option for adding way-finding lights to theater aisles. Theaters can also have LED lighting in other forms, like “color splash,” “color mist,” and “par cans.” (3)
I found many sustainable options for seating in home theaters, but not very much geared toward the public side. One particular website, for public theaters, gave the option to purchase used seating, which would be an eco-friendly practice in my book, as long as the footprint to get it to its destination didn’t override the recycled quality. (4)
Some sustainable or sustainable theaters-to-be are the:
Malthouse Theater is Australia http://www.malthousetheatre.com.au/whatson/greenlight.html
Berkley Repertory Theater in California
http://www.berkeleyrep.org/about/greenroom.asp
Sources:
1. http://www.boc-gases.com/products_and_services/by_product/hydrogen/index.asp
2. http://www.arcolaenergy.com/contribute/?cat=18
3. http://www.starlight.com/theatre.html
4. http://www.preferred-seating.com/
Throughout my research I found several theaters that are going above and beyond to become sustainable in many different ways. Many theater companies and departments(high schools, universities, est.) are reusing set designs, offering recycle bins in their lobbies, using no -voc paints and borrowing props from others, just to name a few. It seems like a large part of the theatrical community is wanting to become even more eco-friendly and they acknowledge lighting as a main concern.
Technology seems to slowly be revolving so that sustainable lighting in theater isn’t an impossible task to achieve. One example is Source Four brand lighting fixtures, by ETC. This “is the first choice by entertainment professionals worldwide.” “No other lights provide such lighting punch while keeping heat generation to a minimum and providing radical energy savings.” (1) It is also described as: “the first ERS (Ellipsoidal Reflector Spotlight) to use a faceted borosilicate reflector behind the lamp. Nearly all stage lights have some form of reflector positioned behind the lamp to reflect otherwise wasted light out the front of the instrument. The Source Four's unusual reflector is dichroic, meaning that it reflects light of only certain wavelengths. The Source Four's reflector reflects back 95% of the visible light striking it, while allowing over 90% of the infrared radiation (heat) to pass out the back of the instrument. This produces a much cooler light which is less destructive to gobos or color gels at the front of the fixture.(2)
Another technological advancement in lighting, that isn’t ready for theaters just yet but will be soon, is an advancement on the LED light. It is called a Lexel, which is an amazing way to light the world around us. There are many things that make the Lexel (the name is a shortening of “light emitting pixel”) such a hopeful and revolutionary idea, but here is a sampling:
1. it needs no warm up, and comes on instantly.
2. it does not flicker
3. “its beam can be changed from narrow to wide simply by inserting a low-cost plastic lens.”
4. it can be set to any color temperature
5. “it can hold exactly that color as you dim the fixture.”
6. it’s most powerful version produces 1000 lumens.(3)
I agree with Jamie that there isnt much info out there on sustainable theater seating that isnt "in home." However, the use of more eco-friendly fabric such as hemp, bamboo and soy would be a huge improvement over what is in use now.
Sources:
1. http://www.etcconnect.com/products.fixtures.aspx
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_Four
3. http://ecotheater.wordpress.com/2007/08/
Obviously, to spec seats for our theatre spaces we might be able to be as green as we would like. The home solutions at this time are probably not cost effective to companies.
Those are helpful and thought provoking comments, Jacquelyn and Tim; especially regarding the sustainable fabric options and the fact that our theaters could have some great custom seating (or at least I think that's what you are alluding to, Tim). I wonder if anyone out there knows of a sustainable fabric that is durable enough for the wear and tear a theater experiences...hmmmm.
I'm working on the seating now...
Jamie and Jacquelyn have made an interesting point on the seating. I was curious, so I did some research.
There are many theaters that undergo remodeling every so often and they usually will sell there old theater seating as Jamie has found. This could work and defiantly count as sustainable in the sense that the seats are being reused. But the seats might have some issues, such as stains, outdated color scheme, wear and tear. These issues would need to be fixed by reupholstering the seats, which can be expensive, especially when we will need 2,000 for our design. Jacquelyn said that it would be better for theaters to use more eco-friendly materials such as hemp, bamboo, and soy. But, Hemp and bamboo break down by tearing because they are not very flexible and are brittle; so long term use would not be ideal in theater seating but could be used and would last longer if the threads were partially mixed with cotton, which is flexible and does not breakdown as quickly over many uses. The Soy idea on the other hand would be great. It is being used now in seat cushions for the new Ford Mustangs. Here is a little info from their site, "Environmental advantages of soy-foam include; a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions compared to the current petroleum-based material, lower energy to produce, up to 24 percent renewable content, and a reduction of dependency on volatile energy markets. (1)" And, "Ford Motor Company and Lear Corporation have joined forces to produce seat foam made from soy-based materials. The first application will appear in the 2008 Ford Mustang. (1)" How exciting!
Now, for sustainable seating, I found this great site called euroseating.com. On this site are many different styles in theater seating to choose from and all the seats are eco-friendly and biodegradable. For each seating style, there is a spec sheet that tells you all the info and how far apart to place the seats by row and side to side (2).
(1)http://www.mustangworks.com/index.cfm/page_id/4/content_id/339
(2)http://www.euroseating.com/modelos.php?butaca=nuevabutaca
Hahaha...I meant Definitely not Defiantly... my spell check scares me sometimes!
How interesting! It makes perfect sense that bamboo would not be a durable fabric, however I would not have thought of it if you hadn't mentioned it, Kristin! I actually hadn't heard of soy fabric until I ready that a theater company was using it. In the article it was only mentioned briefly and I didn't do any deep research into it. So, I took a look into euroseating.com and I want soy seating everywhere if it is as comfy as it looks! Thank you Kristin for the info.
i would like to point out that with sustainability, we also need to look at where the materials are coming from. bamboo and other "green" materials could still not be as good as materials from local sources.
and very interesting about the soy.... I had no idea about it before.
Blair Kuchelema
The previous comments have had some very interesting information on sustainable practices. It would be an interesting challenge to find a way to encourage companies to become greener with seating and lighting, but as you mention Tim, the solutions that have been given for home theatres may not be cost effective for companies.
Lighting would be an easier persuasion for them to go green and perhaps even save money...in the long term sense of saving, but saving none the less.
Why not invest in solar resources. Many performing arts spaces are based on or sponsored by universities. We could utilize these particular spaces for educating and using our most valuable resource…the sun! Do you think we could get some state money to invest? Theatres generally have large roof space to utlize panels, etc...Even though the performance spaces may not allow for windows, we could still utilize the day lighting to our advantage.
I apologize for posting so late. This is the first class that I have had with a blog requirement, and I woke up this morning and thought, "Wow... I forgot to post!" Well, in the time that I have left, here are a few thoughts.
I think that there are some great advances in lighting, reducing the energy expended and increasing the quality of the light produced. These are great solutions for places that have lighting needs after sundown. But what about theaters? They need lighting control at all times. I wonder if the research that Johna was hoping for could be extended and expanded to more than just solar panels, which are great for night energy use, but what about solar redirection? Can we find a way to capture and redirect the sunlight, filter it to our needs? Can we send it where we want it to go?
HEY EVERYONE
HOWS EVERYONE DOING??? WELL I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THE BLOG, BUT GOOD THING I REMEMBERED BEFORE IT WAS TO LATE. WELL I BASICALLY BEEN RESERCHING ABOUT THEATER SEATING AND LIGHTING, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH THE INTEGRAL PART OF A THEATER. AS I RESERCH I'VE LEARNED THAT A GOOD THEATER DESIGN SHOULDN'T TAKE FROM ANY PERFORMANCE. SO PRETTY MUCH WHTTHER THE THEATER IS COMFORTABLE AND LAID BACK THE ATTENTION SHOULD STILL GO TO THE AUDIENCE. IT TAKES GOOD DESING TO ACCOMPLISH THAT!! ANYWAY SORRY FOR WRITTING SO LATE, BUT HOPEFULLY ILL GET USE TO IT AND REMEBER FOR NEXT WEEK, BY THE WAY I REALLY LIKED JAMIE'S WHOLE IDEA OF SUSTAINABILITY, IT REALLY THOUGHTFUL.
HEY TIM JUST REALIZED THAT THERE 2 DIFFERENT WEBSITES FOR LIGHTING, SO I MIGHT HAVE DONE MY FIRST BLOG FOR LIGHTING 1.
SORRY!!!!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Natural and theater lighting and sound .
Natural light can come from many different sources. Typical sources are sky lights, tube lighting , floor to ceiling windows and clerestory windows . Not only is natural lighting important during the day but at night with the moon light as well . A sky light would be useful for both cases for example .
Theater lighting and sound elements are different depending on the shape of the structure its self. One thing is the same for more successful theater sound is to have the stage lower then the viewers . In the earliest of theaters the actors could only hear each other and not the audience .
Lighting in theater depends on how and when the stage should be lit . If there is a solo performance on stage it would be best to have a spot light on instead of lighting the entire stage . For theater lighting; timing is everything .
Posted by sarah meyer at 11:53 AM I firgured out this silly thing...
Just wanted to add to this...
Continental seating is a theater seating plan in which there is no center aisle, but with wide spacing between each row of seats to allow for ease of passage.
American seating is a theatre seating plan that is divided by a central aisle. The seats are generally closer to one another and circulation is isolated to main nodes.
Well, I wish I had come across this information sooner, however, I found a great company that has some really great modern theatre/auditorium seating choices. I came across an ad for Poltrona Frau in Architectural Record this week. The website is www.frauusa.com. The company is originally from Italy, but there is a showroom in New York City. The seating on their website is fabulous! They also do custom pieces, as stated in the advertisement in Architectural Record. They also have other furniture options for work and home. It is definitely worth looking p and adding to your sourcebook.
The theatre seating I ended up choosing was found through archiexpo.com (thanks to Wendy!). The manufacturer of the seating I found is Meritalia. There were a few other choices on archiexpo that were also great. However, Poltrona Frau had more choices.
Sources:
Architectural Record: May 2007
www.frauusa.com
www.archiexpo.com
www.meritalia.it
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