The torus: A gridshell structure

BACKGROUND: Sound Art is fast gaining international prominence as evidenced by recent international shows and major awards for sound artists. For the Sound Bites City exhibition, a concept and space was commisioned for a temporary spatial structure inside which the audience could listen to the pieces or art. Williams and Cherrey designed The Torus - a timber gridshell in a toroidal arrangement that drew on a history of post-formed gridshell structures. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: Williams' essay (attached) outlined the design approach for the structure and located it in the context of over 50 years of post-formed timber gridshell structures. This history describes collaborations between architects and engineers in designing structurally-efficient shells, and highlights the use of both physical prototypes and contemporary techniques of digital 'form finding' and customised fabrication. The essay further situated the spatial arrangement, as a torus which created performance spaces both inside and outside the structural shell, within a contemporary digital design discourse. Finally, the essay sought to outline connections between architectural design and sound art production regarding creative processes and the tools and the individual roles of designer/artist. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The Sound Bites City exhibition launched RMIT's sound art collection, the first such collection in the country. As such, a sophistocated architectural response which was well situated within the contemporary discourse was critical to the exhibition's success. Over five weeks, 3815 people visited including an opening night crowd of close to 300. The significance was further demonstrated by media coverage including 'The Age' (Penny Webb, 5 October 2013) and 'Melbourne Review' (Evelyn Tsitas, 'The Fine Art of Listening', Sept 2013).