RED BULL MUSIC ACADEMY STAGE

STAGE DESIGN

Location Istanbul Year 2016 Partner Red Bull Status Completed Photo Özgür Bingöl Area 1340 m²

BARN arch undertook Red Bull Music Academy Stage design at the Soundgarden festival in 2016.

The stage of the festival, which was established in the same location the previous year, was located on the sand ground at the intersection of the busiest axis of the festival area. Due to its location, the backstage was completely visible to the audience and the area affected by stage was not the entire beach, but only a narrow area at the intersection of the sea. Due to these reasons, 2016 stage was decided to be placed in the center of the sand area between the main axis parallel to the shore and the sea. With this placement, in order to further increase the effect area of the stage; stage is designed to have a volume to communicate on all four facades.

The sense of strengthening communication has led the design geometry to become circular on the plan and its derivatives. With the 4 towers located on the wall of the stage unit in the middle, the stages wide spatiality was aimed to be perceived by the audience. 4 towers were functioned as units that meet festival and stage requirements. The bars, which are the most focused unit of the festival users after the stage, were removed from the dense axis and positioned symmetrically on the seashore. Thus, the entrances and exits of the RBMA area from the main axis of the festival were relieved of the crowds and the area was felt more easily by the audience. The stage sound-light tower was placed in the region that sees the scene from the widest point, taking into account the movement of the production team within the area. Symmetrical to the sound-light tower, the water distribution point, which we believe to be a necessity for the summer festivals, was located.

The advantage of speedy scaffolding system’s rapid setup was advantageous in diversification of the mass and volumetric variations. In the festival buildings, the intended volume-space organization was realized with the cantilevers in the design; by taking up less space at the base and increasing the dominance of the area. Considering the regional data, the most determining factors for the selected material character were the sea, green cover, sand and wind. In order to increase the visual potential of the sea and sand from these elements, aluminum profile mirrors were placed on the consoles in the stage structure. Considering the perspective variations created by the effects of the dominant wind and reflections, the mirrors were placed with fractures at different angles. Wind-permitting raw jute materials were stretched to the surfaces of the skeleton to clarify the structure geometry created by the scaffolding system.

By distributing the stage light and sound system not only to the stage but on 5 volumes, instead of stage being the sole focus, whole beach was made dominant and in affect.