Performing Arts Center
Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
Louis I. Kahn, architect
Location
History
The Performing Arts Center, also referred to as the Theater for the Dramatic Arts, by Louis I. Kahn in fort Wayne, Indiana is the focus of our case study. Completed in 1973, the large brick building was to be the heart of a large art institute (see illus
tration). The project was down sized over time and complete development was never realized. Today the theater and art school comprise the institute.
The three main elements of the building are the theater/concert hall, the public foyer, and studio/gallery spaces. Kahn conceived the building as a beutiful violin housed within a sturdy protective case. for this reason the theater was created as a sepa
rate entity within an enterior shell. It was this section of the complex we found interesting and researched further. The concert hall/theater is a folded concrete structure that is very complex and beyond the scope of this study. So, being of a totall
y separate structure, let's look at the violin case.
Physical Description
The violin case is a large brick and cmu box. It is approximately 50 feet tall and runs 125 feet across the front and 135 feet along the sides. The walls are 18 inches thick and are either of total brick construction or a combination of cmu and brick.
Along the sides where the walls relate to the concrete violin they are of cmu's with the exterior of brick. these two long side walls support the roof system. The roof system consists of pre-cast and perhaps pre-stressed concrete T's. They span the ful
l 125 feet without support from the violin so they must be pinned in some manner. Each 'T' is approximately four feet in depth and six feet wide. There are 22 of them. The T's then rest on a continuous concrete beam that rests along the top of the two
side walls. the reat wall supports the stage house and the front facade supports itself and createds a bookend for the main supports, the two side walls. The facade is an interesting structrual system in itself. the facade is built with arched voids wi
th a powerful concrete beam linking and absorbing the thrusts of the three interlocking brick arches. The two main arches span approximately 50 feet each while the smaller arch over the entry spans about 30 feet.
Building Process
Structural Descripton/Aspects
The loads that the buildign must resist are exterior elemental forces such as wind, snow and thermal expansion. With the interior of the building as a separate unit, it does not contribute any load. The snow load and thermal loads vary widely, but thses
are conditions set in Fort Wayne building code. We estimate the wind load at about 25 psf and the dead loads of the construction materials at 120 pcf for the brick and 145 pcf for the concrete (from FBC p. 441).
The vertical loads that are placed on the roof are distributed among the concrete T's, each with about 750 square feet of attributing area, that form the roof system and brought to the two side walls. There they are transferred by the wall and its mass t
o the ground via the foundation. The vertical loads in the walls created by their own mass then combine with and guide the roof load to the ground plane.
The front tacade which does not bare any direct vertical load from the roof only deals with its own weight and external forces. The outer part of the two main arches takes the load of the wall and transfers them down the side of the facade, using the mas
s of the wall as a buttress in effect. The inner part of the two main arches, which meet at the center, place their loads onto a large concrete column. This column then transfers its load to a beam that spans the entry. A small arch is present over thi
s beam and transfers a small load to the ends of the beam. The ends of the beam then transfer all the loads to the wall and down to the ground plane.
The outer envelope of the building being in essence a large box is very efficient at handling horizontal loads. If the fromt facade is loaded with a wind load, a resisting force is created by the inherent geometry of the other walls. This essentially fo
rms a couple that resist movement. Other lateral loads, such as earthquakes, are taken into account by steel reinforcing in the concrete and masonry construction. however, because Indiana is an area of low earthquake activity, this type of loading is mi
nimal.
Conclusions
Bibliography
- Giurgola, Romaldo. Louis I. Kahn. Guasavo Gili, Brcelona, 1975. ISBN: 84-252-1399-1.
- Brown, Jack. Louis Kahn in the Midwest. Art Institute of Chicago, 1989.
- Allen, Edward. Fundamentals of Building Construction. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 1990. ISBN: 0-471-50911-6.
Associated Buildings
Steven Koch & Chris Shelby
ARCH 461/561 Spring 1995
Do you have questions about adding a case? or a building to suggest??????? send a message to me.......
chrisl@aaa.uoregon.edu