NEW YORK, N.Y. - I would like to relay to you that EMPAC is not only a vision, a building or a program - but that EMPAC is a building and a program. The integration of the future program with the current design and building process is the greatest challenge. The vision of EMPAC is unique. There is no other university, such as Rensselaer, that combines innovation and success in the areas of research, science and education with an equally sophisticated and demanding cultural environment.
Presented by Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute American Institute of Architects, New York State Luncheon Forum Saturday, October 4, 2003 Good afternoon. Two weeks ago, on September 19, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute broke ground on one of the most exciting projects in our long and distinguished history. We call this extraordinary project the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, or, EMPAC. EMPAC will be a powerful and creative presence on our Troy campus, in New York State's Capitol Region, and indeed on the world cultural stage.
Groundbreaking. Opening the ground for new foundations. Building new walls on new foundations, the creation of space. Space protected from wind, snow, heat and rain, space for human life, human endeavors, and human aspirations. Building walls to create an inside separated and protected from the outside, building a house to allow us to move between inside and outside. We can open ourselves best when we are in a protected environment. This new building is all about protection for opening our senses to create sense. The ritual of groundbreaking reaches far down.
From the office of communications TROY, N.Y. - President Shirley Ann Jackson, Rensselaer trustees and administrators, and community leaders gathered today to break ground for the new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The ceremony took place at the Folsom Library, near the site of the future EMPAC building. "This is an auspicious day for Rensselaer, for it marks another beginning.
from Campus.News
From Rensselaer Magazine: June 2002
Rensselaer has chosen Johannes Goebel, a respected curator and renowned composer of electronic music, to lead the university's experimental media and performing arts center. He will begin his appointment July 1.
From Campus.News Rensselaer has chosen Johannes Goebel, a respected curator and renowned composer of electronic music, to lead the university's experimental media and performing arts center. "Johannes Goebel's impressive resume mirrors exactly what we are looking for in an artistic director," said President Shirley Ann Jackson. "He will bring scholarship and innovation to our program of experimental media and performing arts.
Program managers in charge of the construction of the new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center are creating a schematic design extension for the building, according to Martin Moore, EMPAC integration manager.
The EMPAC schematic designs had to undergo a number of revisions to take into account the current excavation projects and seismic analysis. The plans won't be finalized until May 2, but EMPAC is still scheduled for completion in 2006.
This semester marks my twentieth year at Rensselaer. As I reflect upon this period, I've never before had as strong a sense that Rensselaer was moving onward and upward. Last November, I was asked by Dr. Jackson to chair the Vice President of Student Life Search Committee. Through the many conversations that I've had with students since the inception of the search, I'm now aware of the dramatic changes that have taken place since the time that I was in college-generated by a combination of societal shifts, the extraordinary influence of technology and, of course, the web.
TROY, NY, July 5, 2001 - Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, today announced that the innovative, London-based architecture firm of Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners has been selected to design Rensselaer's new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.