Enliven Cinema

Cinema halls, built for nearly 40 or more years are similar and reproduce the same seating arrangement for the audience. With the amount of development in cinematography and online streaming technology, cinema halls are generating lesser and lesser audience. The cinema halls of the past are becoming obsolete as streaming companies provide a tailored experience at home. Furthermore, the cinema's energy efficiency is widely condemned. In the early weeks of a release, there is a reasonable amount of audience attendance, but as the release progresses, the situation becomes grave. For a small group of audience members that show up, the hall is bound to keep the entire system's ac and audio on, which is inefficient in the long run. There's also the issue of films being dubbed or presented in regional languages. Dubbed or regional language films have a lower audience turnout due to the fact that they are only exhibited in a few selected locations and at very few restricted timings that the theatre offers. Streaming giants are giving a wide variety of language possibilities, attracting a more inclusive, diversified range of individuals that today's movie halls are unable to achieve. To fix this and resolve all these concerns, a radical new approach to the appearance and setting was required, prompting the creation of the "Enliven" project.

The intent of the "Enliven" project is to create a modular, adaptable, inclusive, and energy-efficient design that will revitalise everyone's cinematic experience. Taking inspiration from nature, the concept is based on a delicate and beautiful Dahlia flower. Just as Dahlia's ascending petals spread forth from the centre, our pods too radiate outwards from a common centre, which is the screen. The design delivers a highly customised, safe, and immersive experience for everyone through its form, shape, and composition.

Process and design

We began by studying nature and existing designs, as well as conducting research in new age cinemas, to arrive at this notion. We started by testing numerous modular ways that would provide a tailored experience for varying sizes of groups of people or individuals coming from all walks of life, after researching all of them and extrapolating the essential facts. We began our hunt for inspiration by learning about flowers, fractals, and other natural concepts. Finally, the dahlia flower, with its funicular shaped petals, served as inspiration for the design's flexibility and versatility. The varying diameters of those petals resulted in the production of three types of pods, each of which can accommodate a different group size.

After deciding on the design of the pod, we began by experimenting with different viewing angles in order to arrive at a final shape and volume size. We explored several iterations in terms of seating capacity and pod composition before settling on the following capacity based on viewing angles in plan and section and a brief requirement of 100 seats. The design adopts a vertical approach, stacking pods inspired by dahlia petals on top of each other, to reconfigure the audience's relationship with the film and guarantee that everyone gets the finest seat in the house. Because of the various pod sizes, groups of different sizes may have a customized immersive experience. The screen was decided to be an led screen with its maintenance and control room situated behind screen.

 Types of pods and their seating capacity

 

We created each pod as an unique entity to achieve the energy efficiency parameters, which meant the lighting, air conditioning (VRV system), and audio system were all intended to be independent from one another. As a result, each pod may work independently. So, in a circumstance when fewer people are expected, only a set number of pods may be used, saving a lot of energy. Solar panels are also installed on the structure, which will generate the requisite electrical energy.

Inclusivity of diverse groups of audience was achieved in a similar way, since each pod has its own audio system embedded in seats, we were able to provide different language option for each pod. The choice of which would be based on the organizers or a group if they occupy a whole pod. This will ensure that the one hall can provide different language options at the same time just like in online streaming service. To control the intermingling of audio from adjacent pod, the pod’s surface was acoustically treated to be sound absorbent and the seats have an immersive audio system embedded in its flanges.

It is now possible to combine the streamer generation's video-watching habits into a theatrical experience, thanks to the advancement of online ticketing and AI-based technologies. The chair was designed with an integrated audio system, air and mist spray, and self-sterilizing material with copper collagen weaved in it to provide a safe and immersive 4D experience. The seats also have a tiny storage area beneath the armrest for baggage. UV light present in this storage area will be used to sanitize and sterilize the luggage. The prefabricated concrete pod is coated with sound absorbent material to keep the sound inside. Each pod is lit with led strip lights to give it a modern feel.

 Design of chair

View of pods

Form- The design's form was inspired by the dahlia's flower shape and resulted in an elegant shape for the structure that is inviting. On the rooftop, solar panels will generate electricity, and movie screening advertisements/posters will be projected on the led screen on the structure's front elevation.

The project may be readily positioned near a sea front, an urban plaza, or a public area in an urban metropolis

Expansion plan - Expansion is straightforward because the pods are modular and may be layered on top of one another. Changing the screen size allows you to adjust the number of people in a pod. The layout may be enlarged both horizontally and vertically. As shown in the rough iterations below.

Future plan - Immersive holographic movies may be produced in the future, and a vertical theatre may be the most efficient option because everyone will have a good viewpoint position. Hologram projectors placed in the screen area's side walls may cast the holographic movie in the space between the pod and the screen. Our concept is completely adaptable to holographic movies, which might be the next big thing in cinematography. 

Keywords - Flexible, Dynamic, Modular, Adaptable, Inclusive, Energy efficient.