Sunday 9 December 2012

The Sin Centre



     The Sin Centre (1962) also known as the, “Entertainment Palace” was Michael Webb’s final student thesis that received a failing grade at the Regent Street Polytechnic even after receiving recognition from the MoMA as a technic icon and was later featured in Archigram 2. It was proposed for the site on Empire Theatre in Leicester Square, London. It was an attempt to bring together separate elements of show time audience and parked cars with inclined plates that form a winding ramp system. Michael Webb’s Sin Centre has been displayed at MoMA and has become a technic icon. The Entertainment Palace consists of a bowling alley, a cinema, theatre, coffee bars and dance areas. Furthermore, there is a large department store at the ground level and office space above. The spaces are designed to allow for easy circulating around the facility. Cross-over ramps allow easy movement for the cars and parking. Cables hold the entire structure together and the floors are hung by tension cables from heavy cantilever beams supported off the top of staircase towers.










An axonometric of Helical Stairway