The Dance School is situated in the heart of Poole's High Street. Its undulating curvilinear form and red pigmented colour is inspired by the traditional Chinese ribbon dance. The ribbon is not only symbolic of dance, it also has strong historic links to architecture through its use in textiles, being one of the oldest decorative materials. Gottfried Semper's Four Elements of Architecture provides the foundations for the ribbon in architecture, where the enclosure was associated with the weaving and textile form.
The ribbon is also symbolic of connection and bringing elements together, something this project will strive to achieve through its interventions into the public realm.
Concrete derives from the latin 'concretus' which means 'bring together' this provides a tectonic link to the typology of the ribbon. The concrete allows this typology to be expressed not only through its curvilinear form but also through its underlying properties.
