Let's pursue the creativity of students in Morphosis design, Emerson college

Oct 16, 2019

Let's pursue the creativity of students in Morphosis design, Emerson college

Located at the heart of Hollywood, 'Emerson College Los Angeles (ELA)' has opened its doors just two years after construction began. designed by Morphosis architects, the building provides a permanent base for a school renowned for its communication and arts curriculum sustainable facility features a host of innovative amenities designed to provide students with the opportunity to pursue their creativity. The 10-story structure can house up to 217 students and includes wired classrooms, an open-air screening, and live-performance space, a Dolby surrounds 7.1 audio post-production suite, a 4k screening room, computer labs, mixing suites, and a planned green screen motion capture stage.

Student accommodation gives structure to the building, with domestic areas framing the structure’s inner core, dedicated to creativity, learning, and social interaction. two slender residential towers are connected with a multi-use platform where a central open volume provides a flexible external space. weaving through the central void, a sculpted form houses classrooms and administration offices, activating terraces at different stories and fostering informal interaction between students and staff. the exterior corridors of the student suites and common rooms are shaded by a textured metal scrim extending across the full height of the towers’ interior.

Responding to its Los Angeles location, the entire school becomes a stage set for films, screenings, and industry events, with the Hollywood sign and the Pacific ocean permanent backdrops. rigging for screens, media connections, sound, and lighting are incorporated into the structural framework, allowing the upper platform to serve as an adaptable armature for outdoor performance.

Expected to achieve a LEED gold rating, the center embodies the ELA’s dedication to sustainable design and community responsibility. responding to weather patterns, the automated sunshade system opens and closes horizontal fins outside the high-performance glass curtain-wall in order to minimize heat gain while maximizing daylight and external views. further green initiatives include the use of recycled and renewable construction materials, installation of efficient fixtures to reduce water use by 40%, energy savings in heating and cooling through a passive solution, and a building management infrastructure developed to monitor and optimize the efficiency of all the site’s systems.‘the the building is designed to expand the interactive, social aspect of education. we focused on creating with the broader community in mind—both in terms of public space and sustainable design,’ explained Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects.

In addition to expanding our existing undergraduate program, we will also be offering workshops, lectures, and other events to Emerson alumni and the community at large. we intend to be fully engaged with the city of Los Angeles and specifically the Hollywood community. community service will be a big part of the new ELA,’ said Kevin bright, founding director of Emerson College Los Angeles.