THE INFINITE STUDIO
Built . Interactive . 2022
By
Roven Rebeira ( Island Studio )
The Infinite Studio is interactive exploration of the Island Studio - Small Projects Series
The project was conceived for Daraz Sri Lanka's live segment in which they host a plethora of small shows that range from product launches to comedy sketches. What interested us about the brief is that the client asked us for 2 completely contrasting set designs. That was it. This did not make sense to us as they hosted so many completely contrasting live segments on a daily basis.
I usual Island Studio style we began to re design the brief. As we saw it there was no use designing 2 static sets that would be outdated in a matter of weeks (this would simply be a waste of resources), and decided to deliver a system that could be adapted and changed at will into many different sets. We wanted it to be limited only by the clients imagination.
A usual part of my design process is to research the origins of the functions that we are trying to design for. Television shows originate from the simple theater productions in history. The architecture that facilitated these functions was the historic / traditional theater.
THE FLY STAGE / THEATER FLY
The fly stage developed historically as a series of walkways and mechanisms to deploy props, backdrops, harness or any ancillary support that is needed for the performance below.
Essentially what we needed to do is to fit fly stage with a small studio space with a 12 foot (4m) clearance height.
THE RIG
The concept of a simplified theater fly morphed into what we called ''The Studio Rig''.
We envisioned a heavy duty steel cage that could me lifted and lowered to a low, mid and high setting depending on the requirement. The Rig would be able to support suspended stage props, lighting, vegetation, furniture (anything that you could want to suspended into a studio set). The ceiling was designed using a high strength steel grid mesh which facilitates suspending objects with fine adjustments in placement and positioning. The Rig was designed in elements that were bolted (no welding) leaving allowance to dismantle and relocated in another studio space if needed, further increasing flexibility
MODULAR BACKDROPS AND ELEMENTS
To provide the client with a more holistic solution we designed a system of modular backdrops that could be suspended using cables fashioned in transparent fishing lines. The cables were notched in varying heights to increase the flexibility of placement.
The backdrop colours and textures were inspired by the company re branding that was ongoing at the time of implementation of the Infinite Studio. The modular panels used a off the shelf sizing that could be reproduced with ease if the client wished to build on the varieties of backdrop textures that we offered, further increasing flexibility and longevity.
A system of roll down backdrops was also added to the periphery of The Rig. These could be swapped out and fabricated in various colours depending on the clients requirements. The existing site was clad in black fabric panels. Working with a limited budget, we provided the client with a base level white roll down back drop for contrast.
