RESPONSE 3

Above: Stair/railing facing detail

Below: Exterior image of the Walgreen Drama Center (North Campus)

Walgreen Drama Center

North Campus

Lobby stair railing/facing

Scale: Medium Component/ Element

This Detail is from the Walgreen drama center. It is of the facing of a wall affixed to a staircase to which a railing is attached. The main purpose is two-fold. First, it is to hide the steel structure behind which actually supports the railing and lighting fixtures integrated into it. Secondly, It is a safety measure to make sure nobody can fall through the largely open framing. Aesthetically, it plays into the overall ‘floating’ feeling of the staircase, which is elevated/cantilevered on suspended steel beams. These panels, which are repeated many times up the stairs and across an overlooking balcony, also appear to float in space with half in gaps between each. What makes this possible, interestedly, is another detail within it- The silver ‘screws.’ These 4 screws on each panel hold them to the uni strut which is barely visible behind. These screws could have been covered or hidden by putting something over them or changing their color, but instead they are made to be a feature. These features break up the hard shape of the steel with circles, giving away how they are build but also breaking up the brown image with something lighter. All of these parts work together to become part of a bigger structure which only partly shows how it holds itself together (but now quite all the way) as these panels also do.