Extensive renovations result in a beautiful thing, perfected
Since its construction in 1927, Baldwin Auditorium has endured as the lovely and inspiring architectural anchor for East Campus. Its Jeffersonian dome and columns provided an inviting neoclassical façade for the classical, choral, and jazz music that was performed within.
But Baldwin was built in an era with different expectations for performance acoustics, and after decades of service, it became apparent that the auditorium needed a major overhaul. This coincided with a university initiative to make the arts a priority on campus—a task made challenging by the presence of a major music venue that was outdated and acoustically subpar.
The Duke Endowment, with its long history of supporting the arts at Duke University, answered calls for help from the university’s leadership. TDE gave $15 million to fund a thoughtful and carefully considered two-year renovation completed in 2013. It was an especially appropriate gift, considering that the original funds to construct the building came from the endowment nine decades earlier.
“Baldwin is a space that has been part of the life of the music department for many years, and we’ve loved it,” says Jonathan Bagg, Professor of the Practice of Music and Director of Performance and Chamber Music. “But, acoustically, anything smaller than a large ensemble has sounded distant, and it’s been hard for players and audiences to connect.”
New architectural features transform the auditorium’s interior appearance and enhance the performance experience for both audience and musician. Gutting Baldwin while leaving the exterior intact, workers altered the shape of the space from square to rectangle. They added new acoustic tiles and magnifice...
... middle of paper ...
...head noted that Baldwin is now truly fit to be the focal point of East Campus, in the same manner that Duke Chapel is to West Campus.
Already, world-class performers have booked shows in Baldwin that have audiences flocking there. In its first academic year since reopening, the auditorium hosted sold-out concerts by the Billy Childs Jazz Chamber Ensemble, piano virtuoso Yuja Wang, Kronos Quartet, the King’s Singers, and more.
Ultimately, Bagg says, the new Baldwin Auditorium is an elegant fusion between a classic space that nurtured decades of Duke music majors and a state-of-the-art performance venue that will continue to produce and host precision musicians.
“I love the fact that we didn’t have to tear down an existing structure, but we have this thing that’s beautiful from the outside and inside,” Bagg says. “We’ve taken a beautiful thing and perfected it.”
With the Pantheon being built over 1700 years ago, it’s amazing that architects are still using features and techniques from this work of architecture in modern creations. The use of this type of classical architecture will continue to be used in works for public space due to its remarkable exterior appearance and it’s long lasting structural durability. When both Jesse hall and the Pantheon are compared it is possible to see their similarities from the types of domes that top each, their external facades, and their interior plan. While they share many similarities, the differences that Bell and Binder used in their creation make this work of architecture unique to many other public spaces.
...ch allows the person to enter the glass atrium connecting all of the wings of the building, which was added in 2012. Breuer was honored with the commission after he had shown his design abilities in other aspects throughout the city. The museum expansion was just one of the few of Breuer’s designs that still stand today. Breuer’s work in both furniture design and architecture has been around for many years, and will continue to be around for many more to come.
Baldwin portrays redemption from suffrage in the revival taking place in the story. As the narrator looks outside the window at the revival, he beings to realize his brother Sonny has changed. The narrator “stayed at the window, both relieved and apprehensive” (92). As the narrator realizes his brother has a heart and passion for music, he begins to understand his brother have been restored from his drug addiction. During the revival the narrator witnesses the effect of music on lives. The attendees of the the revival “eyes focused on something within;
On Friday November 15, 2013, I attended a concert that I found very interesting. It took place at 7:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. The group performing was the Erie Chamber Orchestra but as a special the Slippery Rock University Concert Choir was also there.
My hypothesis of this place was partially correct, but also was not correct at the same time. The reason it matched was that they were using it for the students to use for their performance, and the audience was able to have enough space to sit, however I was wrong because I did not anticipate the people who were going to misuse it. According to my observations, high school students who have that facility at their disposal are more likely to take it for granted and misuse the auditorium. However, there are also people that use it for what it was meant to be used for, so it continues to be used for public performances, making it a public place.
One of the jewels of University Circle, Cleveland's cultural district, Severance Hall is located on the corner of East Boulevard and Euclid Avenue and is famous all across the country for having exquisite architecture, as well as extraordinary sound in its main concert hall. Despite the deteriorating economy during the Great Depression, construction began in 1929 and was finally finished in 1931. Since its opening in 1931, the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra has held the majority of its concerts there, and uses Severance Hall as its home. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Severance Hall, including its amenities and appearance, is a major feature in the downtown scene of the city of Cleveland.
When reading “My Dungeon Shook: A Letter to my Nephew”, it was clear that Baldwin was not just writing a letter to his nephew but to society by interacting personal thoughts with public awareness.
The approximate size of the performance space in relation to our classroom was about double the size with about 322 seats. The performer was in the center of the stage with a fortepiano. The stage was completely empty besides the instrument and a bench for the musician. The whole audience was facing the performer. There were about 300 audience members. The audience was split up in three sections: left, middle, right. The
The Broadway Fountain of Madison, Indiana did not originate in Indiana. “The fountain was originally exhibited in Philadelphia in 1876 (U.S.).” “After the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition closed, the Madison Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows purchased the fountain and presented it to the city in 1884 (U.S.).” What makes this fountain so special? “It is one of only four remaining of this style in the world (U.S.).”
...any places throughout his essay which effectively helps the reader accept what he says as fact. Then, within these analyses, he uses a passive voice to make points. He doesn’t assert anything. He merely suggests and notices things around him, then lets you make the obvious connections. Maybe Baldwin uses this writing style no purpose or maybe he just writes this way naturally without noticing. Baldwin may have written these essays with the intent to make a point, or he may have written them for some other reason. It was not my intent to assign a purpose to Baldwin’s writing, but rather to note an interesting and powerful writing technique Baldwin uses, and how it results in writing which is extremely easy to agree with.
and Baldwin writes, ?the power and the promise and the mystery of that body made
As an Ancient Greek, one could expect to spend a fair amount of time in theatres for social and religious reasons. Thus, the design and construction of auditoriums was vital to the comfort and experience of viewers.
Memorial Hall, which was originally a civil war monument, is now a theater and student union for Harvard University. The 19th century architects Robert Ware and Henry Van Brunt designed this building to resemble the Victorian Gothic Romanesque churches of the time. Memorial Hall contains a theater, dinning hall, and a crossing (the civil war memorial).
The Laidlaw Preforming Arts Center’s spring concert for the Wind Ensemble was a great production to show the community the talents students have. Most of the pieces had a nationalism feel to them, but each one was much more different than the next. The student of this band did an exceptional job of conducting and playing during this concert.
For this task the brief was to design the construction, soundproofing and acoustic treatment of a recording studio complex within a series of set constraints. The complex had to include a control room, living room, reception and bathroom, within an overall floor space of 15m x 15m. The main focus was to be on acoustic design with the use of scale drawings to make the studio clear and easy to understand. For this studio the idea was to design a space suitable for recording large ensemble groups such as orchestras and so the space was designed with this in mind when regarding the size, shape and layout of the space. Arguably two of the most important aspects when designing a studio complex are that the live and control rooms include a lot of natural light and that the communication between the artists and the studio team is free and easy. In the studio this has achieved this by creating a design similar to and inspired by ‘The Big Room’ at Real World Studios (Realworldstudios.com, 2013), where the ‘control room’ and ‘live room’ are actually all within the one space utilising the live end/dead end theory.