A lightweight tensile structure with a retracting roof canopy emphasizes the beauty of the amphitheater’s natural setting.
SKY REFLECTOR CANOPY
STANFORD, USA
2015
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AERIAL VIEW OF THE SKY REFLECTOR CANOPY NESTLED WITHIN THE FROST AMPHITHEATER
LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE PROPOSED CANOPY
VIEW OF THE FROST AMPHITHEATER FROM THE EXISTING STAGE
VIEW OF THE SITE
THE CABLE-NET STRUCTURE SUPPORTS THE DEPLOYABLE CANOPY
THE CABLE-NET STRUCTURE WITH ITS CANOPY DEPLOYED
THE SKY REFLECTOR CANOPY AT NIGHT
WHEN APPROACHING THE STAGE THE CANOPY'S STRUCTURE ALMOST DISAPPEARS
THE DEPLOYABLE CANOPY'S STORAGE AREA IS ABOVE AND BEHIND THE STAGE WHICH FEATURES A PERMANENT CANOPY
THE CABLE-NET STRUCTURE CONFORMS TO THE SITE'S TOPOGRAPHY AND STEPPED GREEN
DETAIL OF THE CABLE NET WITH INTEGRAL SKY REFLECTORS
RENDERING ILLUSTRATES THE CABLE-NET'S MINIMAL INTERFERENCE WITH VIEWS OF THE SKY
AERIAL VIEW OF THE SKY REFLECTOR CANOPY WITH THE CANOPY FULLY DEPLOYED
VIEW FROM THE STAGE OF THE CANOPY FULLY DEPLOYED
THE SKY REFLECTOR CANOPY IN ITS CONTEXT
Video
Description
Stanford University invited James Carpenter Design Associates to a design charrette for its Frost Amphitheater, built in 1937. The goals were to envision a new canopy to provide shade and protection for 2,500 seated patrons and to renew the stage, back of house, entries and circulation.
JCDA’s approach is founded on preserving the integrity of the site, a six-acre man-made bowl and open air forum with a powerful sense of the sky. A minimal and elegant intervention, the Sky Reflector Canopy, developed with Schlaich Bergermann and Partners, is a lightweight tensile structure with a retracting roof canopy, buoyantly suspended within the site’s topography and natural setting. Matching the site's topography, the uplifting double curved cable-net form welcomes visitors and accentuates the stage as a point of focus. The translucent fabric canopy is deployed along the cable-net’s fanning array of longitudinal cables, providing shelter from sun or rain and enhancing the amphitheater’s existing micro-climate.
When the canopy is retracted, sky reflectors set parallel to the stage become visible above the net’s transverse cables. When viewed from the rear of the amphitheater’s bowl, these arcing linear reflections visually stack together to create a wide periscopic view of the northern sky. As viewers descend toward the stage, the reflectors and structure almost disappear. This powerful poetic light effect, suspended between earth and sky, is in constant dialog with the changing atmospheric conditions of the outdoor environment.
In merging art, engineering and an environmental approach to place making, the Sky Reflector Canopy is an innovative architectural instrument that celebrates this extraordinary site’s character, a site that transforms academic and social rites of passage into experiences vividly remembered by generations of students and alumni.
Client: Stanford University
Engineer: Schlaich Bergermann and Partner
Lighting/Accoustics: ARUP