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Museum of the Moving Image
Museum of the Moving Image
New York, NY, United States
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Other Projects by Moore + Friesl
Museum of the Moving Image
New York, NY, United States
Firm
YEAR
2013
A media museum located in Queens required new acoustical panels for its new 267-seat theater, part of a 3-year $67million renovation of a structure located in the former Astoria Studios complex and designed by Leeser Architects. Instead of being a traditional box-shaped theater, it is organic and steeply curved, with walls and ceilings made of nearly 1137 triangular, felt-covered panels, which had to be lightweight, strong, adjustable to many configurations, and covered in felt to meet the sound-absorbing requirements, and fabricated within budget.
The shape of the theater demanded the usage of a number of uniquely shaped panels, which cover the ceiling, curve down to form the wall, and could not be fabricated using a single mold but required several. To keep costs down, there needed to be as few molds as possible. These technical and budgetary challenges prevented other firms from participating, but Moore + Friesl agreed to develop these panels for Leeser Architects following a strict budget.
Moore + Friesl’s panels feature an aluminum frame capped by a vacuum-formed, fire-rated thermoplastic shell, which is wrapped in a liner, foam, and felt. The result is a visually-striking, enveloping space that guides the audience to focus on the screen, with excellent acoustical and sound-absorbing properties that enhances the viewer’s sensory experience. Completed in 2011, this project took Moore + Friesl 5 months from start to finish.
Case Study: Intelligent and Efficient Design Reduces Costs
While the majority of the theater’s 1137 panels were identical in shape and size, 400 were unique with very different shapes and curves, and each of the unique pieces was assigned a specific location in the overall structure, and could not be interchanged. Moore + Friesl’s major challenge was minimizing the number of molds without compromising the original design.
Moore + Friesl started by giving the triangular panels equal lengths on all sides regardless of how they were bent or cut, and figuring out how to institute this standardized length across the curved space. Once they established this standard, they accommodated the different types of bends. This resulted in a panel assembly that was a 3-part aluminum support frame (laser cut), 1 part thermoformed thermoplastic acrylic, covered in custom-dyed felt. Using the back-up structure and thermoformed acrylic, they were able to use one mold to create 95% of the panels, which became a huge cost savings, each additional mold costing $2,000 - $5,000--the most expensive part of the development process. The other molds were created for specialized panels around the doors where the shape could not be standardized. Astonishingly, Moore + Friesl minimized the total number of molds needed to construct all the panels to 5.
Moore + Friesl also developed a numbering system to track numerous components for accurate installation, preventing the 1137 pieces from getting “lost” when they arrived to the site in waves. Group layouts then helped simplify fabrication and guide the installation process, which reduced the amount of labor required.
The shape of the theater demanded the usage of a number of uniquely shaped panels, which cover the ceiling, curve down to form the wall, and could not be fabricated using a single mold but required several. To keep costs down, there needed to be as few molds as possible. These technical and budgetary challenges prevented other firms from participating, but Moore + Friesl agreed to develop these panels for Leeser Architects following a strict budget.
Moore + Friesl’s panels feature an aluminum frame capped by a vacuum-formed, fire-rated thermoplastic shell, which is wrapped in a liner, foam, and felt. The result is a visually-striking, enveloping space that guides the audience to focus on the screen, with excellent acoustical and sound-absorbing properties that enhances the viewer’s sensory experience. Completed in 2011, this project took Moore + Friesl 5 months from start to finish.
Case Study: Intelligent and Efficient Design Reduces Costs
While the majority of the theater’s 1137 panels were identical in shape and size, 400 were unique with very different shapes and curves, and each of the unique pieces was assigned a specific location in the overall structure, and could not be interchanged. Moore + Friesl’s major challenge was minimizing the number of molds without compromising the original design.
Moore + Friesl started by giving the triangular panels equal lengths on all sides regardless of how they were bent or cut, and figuring out how to institute this standardized length across the curved space. Once they established this standard, they accommodated the different types of bends. This resulted in a panel assembly that was a 3-part aluminum support frame (laser cut), 1 part thermoformed thermoplastic acrylic, covered in custom-dyed felt. Using the back-up structure and thermoformed acrylic, they were able to use one mold to create 95% of the panels, which became a huge cost savings, each additional mold costing $2,000 - $5,000--the most expensive part of the development process. The other molds were created for specialized panels around the doors where the shape could not be standardized. Astonishingly, Moore + Friesl minimized the total number of molds needed to construct all the panels to 5.
Moore + Friesl also developed a numbering system to track numerous components for accurate installation, preventing the 1137 pieces from getting “lost” when they arrived to the site in waves. Group layouts then helped simplify fabrication and guide the installation process, which reduced the amount of labor required.
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