Architect Frank Gehry Designs New World Center Using Coolux Pandoras Box

Architect Frank Gehry designed the recently inaugurated New World Center, the New World Symphony’s music academy in Miami, Florida. Gehry and his creative collaborators have been able to express their vision of the future of classical music with this $160 million project, which also features coolux -  Pandoras Box server technology.

One of the most important aims of this epic undertaking was to break down barriers that might keep people from entering the world of classical music.

Projections play a big part in the overall design, both inside and outside the impressive building.

The concert hall itself can be configured in 14 different ways and offers 247 seats that can be retracted to create a flat floor on which cabaret style performances or shows allow musicians to be seated amongst the audience.

The New World Symphony orchestra also projects simulcasts or 'WALLCAST™ concerts' of the bi-weekly concerts by projecting them onto an outside wall, in order to reach out to the public and go beyond the confines of traditional concert halls.

Viewing the performances this way will be free of charge for those who decide to watch the projections in the SoundScape park which is located in front of the building complex. The live concerts will be projected onto a 7.000 square-foot projection wall, while 167 surround-sound speakers broadcast the audio.

Four 35K Christie Roadie projectors are set up in quadrants with coolux Pandoras Box servers being used for masking and edge blending.

For the live concert WALLCAST™ concerts, a HD feed gets sent out of a Grass Valley Kayak to live-input cards in the coolux media servers. Coolux Pandoras Box is also used to overlay pre-produced graphic content over the live video feed.

Taking a closer look at the interior of the impressive building complex, one finds that appx. 8.000 square-feet of the interior of the performance hall can be covered in video projections. This architectural feature allows the presentation of immersive video art to be synchronized with live musical performances.
To accomplish this, technical director Clyde Scott employs 12 30K  Christie Roadie projectors and coolux Pandoras Box servers for warping, edge blending, masking and also to create a single continuous canvas that wraps around the room.

Photo: Rui Dias Adios