At its core, National Sawdust is a retooling of the 18th century chamber hall model as an incubator for new music. The design is characterized by the insertion of a highly articulated crystalline form into the rough brick envelope of a former sawdust factory. This form is comprised of an acoustically transparent but visually translucent skin, which allows sound to travel through it freely.

Creating a seamless, wrap around enclosure for a wide repertoire of performances, the skin masks the variable sound absorbing, diffusing, and reflecting surfaces, as well as the state of the art performance, recording, broadcast, and box in box isolation systems that allow the eponymous nonprofit to achieve its mission: to support new musicians, artists, and composers on their way to viable and sustainable careers.
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Photography by Floto + Warner / OTTO