THEM designs innovative and sustainable event stage for Cranbrook festival project

The Cranbrook performing arts festival project is a yearly celebration conducted by the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfields Hills, Michigan, USA. The summer festival mainly showcases the group and individual performances and is initiated by the central quad of Cranbrook Academy of Art, founded in 1932 by Finish architect Eliel Saarinen. The performance also provides a unique platform to uphold a greener and more economic option of conducting fair, trade event or exhibitions in open air environment.

Cranbrook Festival Project

The green framework and ambiance have been designed by Them architectural design studio formed by joint efforts of architects Peter Lynch and Gustavo Grembil. The whole project is made of easy effortless installing and destalling techniques and materials. They have designed a center stage that is set up at the southern end of the Triton pool, with an innovative demountable orchestra enclosure. It is framed over 6500 sq. ft. on steel frames. It is made of PVDF, a recyclable plastic fabric of highest purity, strength and resistance and yields over 60% translucent renditions. The entire material is stretched over four conical projections. These projections are connected by a modular and collapsible trestle that is acoustic and supports stage lighting to benefit performances and showcasing of talents.

There are eight sponsors' pavilion known as brellas that are shaped as white morning glory flowers, dotting the entire canvas. The flowery dip at the end of the brellas is achieved by curving the plastic strips of the material from the radius and making them stretch from one edge to other. It is composed of a flexible arrangement clad with recyclable PET woven material. This has been achieved by treating discarded water bottles and weaving them together to form a fabric-like structure by an indigenous community of weavers in Cordoba, Argentina. The bottles have been collected by eco conscious cooperative societies in Rosario and Cordoba of Argentina ready to make a difference in the way of community interaction for greener contexts.