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The Laban Contemporary Dance Centre lies in Deptford near Greenwich, in a prominent “U” outlined by the Thames, designed by Herzog & de Meuron (2003). A translucent polycarbonate cladding wraps around a a colored exterior wall layer to create a glowing, permeable object. Some windows punch through clearly and some, in private spaces and dance studios, are only translucent. The pastel colors intensify as one enters, becoming rather offensive, but delineating spaces and wayfinding.
The daylighting is intense and often highly contrasted. The moving shadows of dancers from exterior windows continue through interior walls to activate the building. These reach gestural concrete forms, such as a rough winding staircase, seeking primitive meanings in the post-industrial construct. Finally, the center of the building is an atrium which speaks to the rolling grass earthworks that lap up to the building’s exterior like waves of a river. |
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