CASE STUDY + FURTHER RESEARCH

WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL- FRANK GEHRY

Design commenced: 1997
Construction: commenced 1999
Status: completed 2003

Located on a historically and culturally prominent site in downtown in LA adjacent to the Music Centre of LA, the Walt Disney Concert Hall serves as the permanent home of the LA Philharmonic. The majority of the site is devoted to gardens, accessible not only from the concert hall itself but from adjacent streets as well. The concert hall lobby is accessible from the street and remains open during the day.

The focus of the design in the 2,265 seat main concert hall, whose interior and form are a direct expression of acoustical parameters. As constructed was completed in 2003, the Philharmonic postponed its opening throughout summer to let the orchestra adjust to the new hall. Music critic, Mark Swed from the L.A Times wrote this about the Walt Disney Concert Hall,

'When the orchestra finally got its next [practice] in Disney, it was to rehearse Ravel's lusciously orchestrated ballet, "Daphnis and Chloé" . . . This time, the hall miraculously came to life. Earlier, the orchestra's sound, wonderful as it was, had felt confined to stage. Now a new sonic dimension had been added, and every square inch of air in Disney vibrated merrily. Toyota says that he had never experienced such an acoustical difference between a first and second rehearsal in any of the halls he designed in his native Japan. Salonen could hardly believe his ears. To his amazement, he discovered that there were wrong notes in the printed parts of the Ravel that sit on the players' stands. The orchestra has owned these scores for decades, but in the Chandler no conductor had ever heard the inner details well enough to notice the errors'

Seating surrounds the orchestra platform. The wood walls and the sail-like wooden ceiling forms give one the impression of being within a great ship inside the walls of the hall.

The exterior of the concert hall is clad in stainless-steel panels except for the exteriors of the Founders Room. The reflective qualities of the surface with relation to the glare from the sunlight were similar to a parabolic mirror. The resulting heat made some rooms nearby unbearably warm and created hot spots on adjacent sidewalks. After several complaints, the people at Gehry Partners came up with a solution using a computer analysis of the building's surfaces identifying the offending panels and dulled them by lightly sanding the panels to eliminate unwanted glare. The building's orientation, combined with the curving and folding exterior walls, present highly sculptural compositions as viewers move along adjacent streets and through the surrounding gardens and plazas. A 2,500 car garage on six levels is located below ground with access from three surrounding streets.

The architecture of Disney Hall doesn't get in the way of people walking in and out. It's inviting. Accessibility is a big priority. It raises questions

WHAT DOES THE BUILDING SAY TO THE PEOPLE ON THE STREET?

HOW DOES IT WELCOME THEM?

Gehry wants people to interact with his ideas, not to be intimidated by them. There is no context to speak of which allows a much freer expression. One idea, inside and outside, one aesthetic, unlike traditional concert halls, wanted to express the joy and feel of music.

Walt Disney Concert Hall is one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for an unparalleled musical experience. From the stainless steel curves of its striking exterior to the state-of-the-art acoustics of the hardwood-paneled main auditorium, the 3.6-acre complex embodies the unique energy and creative spirit of the city of Los Angeles and its orchestra.

DETAILS







MODELS

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

2000

2001

2002

2003

INTERIORS

SKETCHES

REFERENCES

www.arcspace.com/architects/gehry/disney2/

www.eikongraphia.com/?p=1502

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Concert_Hall

http://www.laphil.com/philpedia/wdch-overview.cfm

http://rebes.info/resources/dch+composite.jpg

http://home.pacbell.net/viapiano/gehry/gehryindex.html

Gehry. F, 2004, Gehry Draws. The MIT Press, Cambridge

Gehry. F, no date, FOG- Flowing in All Directions. CIRCA
Publishing MOCA, Los Angeles