Tempus fugit : music and the ephemeral in architecture

Abstract

I am interested in the relationship between solidity and transparency, between permanence and ephemerality, in the context of the modern city. This thesis is an exploration of transience and of social and phenomenal exchange, using music, and, more generally, sound, as a vehicle. The project is an alternative music school and performance center located in Harlem, in New York . The functions of the institution include a community music school for neighborhood youth, a cabaret, a conservatory for adult students of music, a radio station with recording studio, and a library/museum . There are a total of up to five performance venues, depending on the configuration of the facilities . The project aspires to changeability not merely to accommodate different performance scenarios but also to create a volume of space that is porous and alive, a landscape that is accessible to all urban bodies.