The Chrysalis Merriweather Park MD, Woodland Building Columbia, USA Architecture Images

The Chrysalis in Symphony Woods, Maryland

New Structure in Symphony Woods, Columbia, MD, USA design by MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY

May 18 + 17, 2017

Design: MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY – Parametric Architect ; Living Design Lab is the Architect of Record ; Arup – engineer

Location: Merriweather Park, Symphony Woods, Columbia, MD, USA

The Chrysalis: Reinventing the Amphitheater

New photos added Thursday 18th of May:

photographs : THEVERYMANY

The Chrysalis, Symphony Woods in Maryland

CLIENT BRIEF: Design a stage within Merriweather Park.
THE DESIGNER’S RESPONSE: Be more than a stage.

photographs : THEVERYMANY

95% of the time, the new Chrysalis Amphitheater in Merriweather Park of Columbia, Maryland is not programmed. Rather than waiting for official events, architecture studio MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY maximized the potential of the project brief with a design that provides an experience around the clock.

photographs : THEVERYMANY

“We want to provide not just a destination, but an experience for the morning jogger, the Sunday walker, and the afternoon stroller, as well as anyone who is actually there for a show,” Architect DPLG Marc Fornes says of the project. “More than an amphitheater, it is first a pavilion in the park, an architectural folly, a tree house and a public artwork. It is ready to be engaged and activated at any given moment.”

photos : Zahner

EVERY ARCH A FUNCTION

What emerged as the major design opportunity of the project was to create an emblematic and experiential design while satisfying the standard box dimensions required by a theater typology. The design response was to develop a collection of cascading arches that vary not only in size but function, and also provide a structural system.

photographs : Zahner

The largest arch frames Stage A, dimensioned and structured for official events, including the performances of musicians and the requirements of their equipment and lighting rigs. Immediately adjacent to the main stage is Stage B, a venue for smaller and more community-based events, and which still provides a platform and seating area, yet more appropriate for less of a crowd. The engineered terrain ascending to Stage B provides an architectural topography on which park visitors can sit, stand and play, and which can be activated itself as a more casual “Speakers Corners” stage set-up.

photos : Zahner

Wrapping around the back of the structure, further arches provide specific locations for a truck loading dock, a grand staircase entrance, and balconies with views to the city, which during performances serve as the artist backstage area.

photographs : THEVERYMANY

LIVE AT THE CHRYSALIS

At night The Chrysalis takes on a new life, as a glowing concert venue with the structural capacity and flexibility to support the most significant of musical performances. The amphitheater is part of a larger plan developed by the Inner Arbor Trust for Merriweather Park, which President and CEO Michael McCall calls a “new kind of culture park where the landscape becomes a setting for arts, culture and civic uses.” The park has a rich musical legacy, playing host to acts from Led Zeppelin to Janis Joplin. The original venue within the park is the Merriweather Post Pavilion, an early work from Frank Gehry.

photographs : THEVERYMANY

LIGHT ON ITS FEET

To achieve a light and organic effect that suits the context of a dense wooded park, the studio took a structurally-oriented approach, building upon over a decade of research and development of lightweight structural shells that unify form, support and experience into a cohesive system. In particular, The Chrysalis further develops principles explored in its its “little brother” precedent, Pleated Inflation, completed by the studio in Argeles, France in 2015.

image: Inner Arbor Trust & THEVERYMANY

The Chrysalis is similarly generated from a process in which a digital mesh is drawn flat, all its segments transformed into a series of differentiated spring systems, and then inflated. Constraints for pleating are added to the inflation protocol to provide for extra structural depth.

FEM Screen Capture: LaufsED

Layered within the self-supporting shell, MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY designed an exoskeleton of steel tubing to support the heavy loads for performances inside, such as lights and other rigging. Dimensioned by Arup, 70 point loads within can each sustain 2,000 lbs.

image : ZAHNER / THEVERYMANY

FABRICATION BY ZAHNER

In between its aluminum shingles and steel exoskeleton, the project utilizes ZEPPS, a patented interface developed by Zahner, who also fabricated the 7,700 shingles from rolls of aluminum. Each shingle is painted one of four shades of green that is taken from nature and pushed to the point of artificiality. Together they amount to a subtle green gradient that renders The Chrysalis an iconic signal at the same time that it is camouflaged into its natural surroundings.

image : ZAHNER / THEVERYMANY

A DESTINATION AND AN EXPERIENCE

Design: MARC FORNES/THEVERYMANY
Architect of Record: LDL
Landscape Architect: Mariam Rykel
Engineering: ARUP
Initial Structural Concept: LaufsED Specialty Fabrication: Zahner
Commissioned by: Inner Arbor Trust
Material: Aluminum Shingles,
ZEPPS Profiled Panel Systems,
Galvanized Steel Substructure

Dimensions: 64’H x 120’W x 82’D
Surface Area: 12,000 sq ft
7,700 Shingles; 45,000 Rivets

image : THEVERYMANY

INSTRUMENTAL PRECEDENT: PLEATED INFLATION (2015)

MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY is an art and architecture studio specializing in the intersection of unique spatial experience and ultra-thin lightweight structures. The design research of the studio is deeply rooted in the development of computational protocols and means of digital fabrication.

MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY
Art / Architecture ^ Computation
NEW YORK | www.theverymany.com

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Apr 24, 2017

The Chrysalis, Symphony Woods in Maryland, USA

Design: MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY – Parametric Architect. Living Design Lab is the Architect of Record. Arup completed the engineering of the project.

Location: The Chrysalis, Merriweather Park, Symphony Woods, Columbia, MD, USA

Arup Balances Aesthetics and Engineering in New Arts Venue: The Chrysalis

Location: Merriweather Park, Symphony Woods, Columbia, MD, USA

The Chrysalis, Symphony Woods in Maryland

Defined by a series of asymmetric arches, the open-air pavilion offered the firm a unique opportunity to showcase its unparalleled range of specialized technical services.

Known for its work on major infrastructure projects and expansive developments, Arup, the global design and engineering firm for the built environment, has recently completed a project of a far different sort: an innovative gem of an outdoor performance venue located in Columbia, MD at Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods.

The Chrysalis Merriweather Park, Symphony Woods, Columbia, images / information from Arup, April 24, 2017

Arup + MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY

Location: Merriweather Park, Symphony Woods, Columbia, MD, USA

Architecture in Maryland

Maryland Building Designs

Maryland Buildings – selection below:

Fifties Split House in Bethesda
Design: Gardner Architects LLC

photography: Jim Tetro
Fifties Split House in Bethesda

Tree House in Bethesda
Design: Gardner Architects LLC

photography: Jim Tetro
Tree House in Maryland

Intelligence Community Campus-Bethesda, Merriweather Park, Symphony Woods, Columbia, MD
Architects: LEO A DALY

image from architecture office
Intelligence Community Campus-Bethesda in Maryland

Mohican Hills House, Glen Echo
Design: Robert M. Gurney, FAIA, Architect

photograph : Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
New House in Maryland

Tred Avon River House
Design: Robert M. Gurney Architect

photo : Maxwell MacKenzie Architectural Photographer

The John and Frances Angelos Law Center at the University of Baltimore
Behnisch Architekten / Ayers, Saint, Gross
The John and Frances Angelos Law Center at the University of Baltimore

Loblolly House, Taylors Island
KieranTimberlake Associates
Loblolly House