ProSoundNetwork.com: The MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, a new arts venue, sports five exhibition galleries, a large learning and community studio, and The Sky Room, a flexible auditorium on the upper floor with 150 retractable seats (300 standing). The performance space is equipped with an EM Acoustics sound system supplied by event production specialists, Hawthorn.
2 comments:
This looks like a beautiful performance space! I love the incorporation of the surrounding world into the performance space, such as the Santa Fe Opera. I can see how this space could pose a unique challenge specifically when it comes to sound reinforcement due to the highly reflective nature of the large glass windows. Granted, for movies they can bring in the curtains which could solve this issue, but if I were designing in the space I would absolutely want to include the landscape in the background. As Jamie Aylard notes, the room has to be extremely versatile and go back and forth between these two configurations and more. This naturally leads into the use of the Dante network, which can make it really easy to switch through various configurations without the hassles of constantly programming a system. Additionally, since the venue appears to serve a wide variety of needs with multiple rooms (five exhibition galleries and another large studio), having this network makes the transition from building-wide soundscapes to an isolated system for performance seamless.
I would love to see this space in person. I don’t know why, but my mind drew a lot of parallels between the process of navigating this space to the work that we just did for TD1’s shop project. One of the most interesting conversations that came of that within my group was the way in which we instinctually label a space as “too small” or “challenging”, and instead of embracing those challenges and allowing the room to transform to fit the needs of each moment, we tend to create systems to organize the room and set up the space that leave absolutely no room for exploration of the room’s full potential. Letting go of the school of thought that teaches that efficient systems and proper organization means there is one procedure to deal with an obstacle is so restrictive, and often wrong. Also, sometimes the way through an obstacle is to embrace it and let it become a feature of the space. I think that the way they have included the landscape is a wonderful example of embracing what is different. This room definitely has some logistical challenges to navigate, particularly with lights and sound, but that seems like a fascinating challenge, and, perhaps one to really lean in to.
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