Tsuru x Brighton College
'Tsuru' is designed for the central atrium of the Performing Arts Centre of Brighton College, UK. This acoustic textile art installation grows ivy-like on the large theatre box walls, both bringing nature into the building, as well as adding important acoustics properties in the heart of it.
In geometric facets of various shades of green, Tsuru spreads itself in multiple landscapes, covering an area over 100 square metres up to 30 metres above ground level, making it the most complex art installation ever developed by the studio.
Client
Brigthon College, Krft Architects
Type
Project
Team
Samira Boon, Irene Petrillo, Hidde Tuinte, Aggie Chang, Willemijn van Cuijk, Caroline Gribnau, Lucie Payen, Hijiri Shirakashi
Completion
2024
Collaborators
TextielMuseum / Textiellab
Photographer
Stijn Bollaert
Tsuru / Ivy
The Richard Cairns Building is a Performing Arts Centre designed by the Dutch architecture studio KRFT. The atrium, located in the heart of the building, connects the 400-seat theatre, classrooms, a café, and lounge by wide staircases which also can be used as rehearsal space, lunch hangout or theatre foyer. It is a true crucial social connector, hence the utmost importance of good acoustics in this spacious void.
Essential qualities of the artwork are the acoustic properties. It spans up to 10 metres high and 26 meters wide, consisting of three-dimensional textile origami surfaces. Angled triangular and diamond-shaped facets are ideal acoustic diffusers.
Performative quality
With 'Tsuru,' the natural environment of the city of Brighton has been brought into the College. The organic installation adds dynamism to the modest, sophisticated architecture. The white theatre box refers to steep chalk cliffs, widely present around this south English coastal town, on which ivy is overgrowing. As you walk past this three-dimensional faceted artwork, due to the changing perspective your perception of it changes, just like leaves swaying in the wind or clouds creating surprising shapes. This lively, performative quality aligns with the architectural function of the theatre building.
“Studio Samira Boon approached our acoustic challenge with an answer that is both intriguing, beautiful and highly performant. The creative process with Samira’s team and the College was inspiring, balancing between architecture, materials and the client wishes. The road from concept to end product has been a real pleasure, resulting in a space in which beauty serves purpose.”
Thomas Dieben, director krft.
Parametric design
The intricate organic-geometric pattern is parametrically designed and by highly advanced weaving techniques integrated into the high-tech textile, realised at the TextileLab in Tilburg.
The folds are pre-programmed into the textile, which is composed of a variety of structures of various twisted yarns, resulting in subtle colour and texture variations. This complex creation process gives the installation its natural ivy-like appearance.
