Based on the concept of listening to the sounds of the ocean inside a shell, STUDIOKCA, commissioned by NASA, has created the NASA Orbit Pavilion to immerse visitors in the sounds of satellites orbiting in outer space.
The traveling, nautilus-shaped pavilion provides a space in which to experience the trajectories of 19 satellites orbiting Earth. Made with 3,500 square feet of water-jet cut aluminum panels, the pavilion is "scribed with over 100 'orbital paths' fitted together and bolted to a curved framework of aluminum tubes."
Speakers are arranged within the 30-foot diameter inner space, and programmed by artist and composer Shane Myrbeck to map, translate, and broadcast the sounds of the satellites in real time.
"Surface perforations echo the orbital paths of the satellites, culminating around the oculus at the center of the sound chamber, while helping to mitigate exterior noise and decrease wind loads on the relatively light structure," write the architects.
The Pavilion made its debut at the World Science Festival in New York City this summer, and is slated to "wash ashore" at the Huntington Library Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California this spring.
CREDITS:
Architects/Pavilion Design: Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang, STUDIOKCA
Client: NASA
Sound Composition: Shane Myrbeck, ARUP
Creative Strategy: Dan Goods and David Delgado, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Structural Engineering: Ryan Miller, SILMAN
News via STUDIOKCA.
