The Liberty Workshops
Interior Architecture Degree Project
Spring 2009
Professors Markus Berger, Jeffrey Katz, and Heinrich Hermann
The degree project in the Spring of the final year is an opportunity for each student to apply their research and design skills in what is essentially a structured independent study. While we have a certain design goals and critiques in place at the beginning of the semester, we are pushed to develop and design on our own---without the safety net of bi-weekly progress meetings.
The project is concerned with the adaptive re-use of an existing building located on the South side of Providence (please see the Degree Project Feasibility Report), a cavernous old theater which tops out at 11, 660 square feet. The program as developed in the feasibility report is for a community art and performance center for middle school children with a main stage, a wood shop, a mask and costume making studio and a small dance rehearsal area, along with a reception area and an administrative office and meeting area.
The design includes a four level "performing cube" which acts as the metaphoric connection between the old building and the new "insertion". Along with the preservation of the original proscenium and stage, the new "performing cube" and the new hardwood flooring and new skylights seek to bring to life the deeply creative and inspiring spirit of art making and performance.
