The EMPAC artist-in-residence studios foster the technical and exploratory nature of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s research in sound and visualization. Similar in their experimental nature but overlapping only slightly in content, the two studios complement each other and encourage use from all of the Institute’s departments. Studio 1 is primarily a home for visualizations, multi-screen and immersive performances, and dance. Video can be projected on all walls of the studio, and atop its 40 foot high ceiling, a walkable lighting grid facilitates efficient lighting changes.

Where Studio 1 is ideally suited for dance and visual technology, Studio 2 shines as a fully equipped recording and musical performance venue. The acoustic wood panels on the walls complement the resilient wood floor paneling; as in Studio 1, FDA designed a lighting grid that spans the room and allows designers to walk over its entire surface to access the lights.