The act of standing in line to purchase a ticket to a live theatre performance in Times Square is an act of irony. As Times Square redevelops and reinvents itself, it moves away from its specific sense of location toward a generic place of borrowed commercial images. Our project posits an alternative reading of Times Square by re-establishing time and space through the experience of the individual.
The current imagery of Times Square, both its billboards and architecture, draws meaning by association with images already known to the viewer. Within this context, the only strategy employed to differentiate one object or sign in Times Square from the next is to be bigger and brighter. Ironically, this strategy creates a sea of images that merge into one. Into this cacophony of images, we plan to insert an "absence" to induce a greater presence than "presence" itself. What we are proposing is a ticket pavilion that is not understood at first glance, that is never the same, that needs to be experienced, that is unlike all of Times Square but at the same time is Times Square. Through its curving form and layering of glass and perforated metal skin, the pavilion will reposition and alter the reflected imagery of Times Square simultaneously with the reflected image of the user. Any change in position, light or fluctuation in the surrounding environment will recalibrate this experience.
To achieve this, we needed to minimize program without affecting function. We have reduced the program down to an automated system utilizing a machine roughly the size of an automated teller. Preliminary information is supplied by removable screens and poles, which also serve to organize and channel the line. Once inside the pavilion, users are presented with a touch screen displaying the choice of shows. Once a show is selected, a three dimensional diagram of the available seating and pricing appears for selection by simply touching the screen. Tickets can then be purchased using credit cards or cash. Importantly, what was once occupied by the break room, employee toilets and ticket office, is now a raised platform available to the public as a place to congregate or even present an impromptu performance. By giving space back to the public domain, the project further emphasizes the notion of public space as an opportunity for experiencing the city.
Through the act of standing in line and buying a ticket, users, like players on the stage, will enact and continually re-enact their experience of Times Square. This experience, not the imagery of the pavilion, will generate excitement about the project, about the location, and about the experience of buying theatre tickets.
(completed by 4240 employee, Robert Benson, while at VWA)