AMPHION THEATRE. Doetinchem, The Netherlands Mecanoo 2010

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1 AMPHION THEATRE Doetinchem, The Netherlands Mecanoo 2010

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4 Amphion Theatre, designed by Mecanoo, takes the place of the former and successful Amphion Theatre of the seventies which needed replacing. With its slightly reclined facades, the theatre is anchored firmly to the Doetinchem ground. The sand-coloured masonry is interrupted by a playful pattern of square windows which appear to be strewn on the facades. The audience enters the theatre through the courtyard which is takes the role of a red carpet. Red accented incisions mark the entrance, the theatre cafe and the green room. Once inside you venture into a world where warm red shaded tones prevail. A grand staircase leads to the theatre cafe, the central meeting place in the theatre from which the four foyers and large and small theatre halls are accessible. The beautifully detailed bar is set like a jewel in the double-height space. The window pattern in the façade creates surprising compositions, imbuing each space with its own character. The windows appear like paintings overlooking the city, sometimes serving as a standing table or bench with their deep sills. Theatres as Treasure Chest The large 860 seat auditorium is like a treasure hidden within the building. Only the fly tower on the exterior betrays the presence of the auditorium. The intimate horseshoe-shaped room in various shades of red is reminiscent of the theatres of yesteryear.

5 Three balconies encircle the theatre, seating the audience close to the stage. Visitors have a perfect view from every seat onto the imposing 36 x 19 meter stage floor which is suitable for all large-scale theatrical productions. The small 300 seat hall can be used as a Black Box and is almost an exact copy of the popular small theatre hall of the old Amphion. The U-shaped layout of movable stands ensures direct contact between actors and spectators. By moving the stands together, the venue is transformed into a concert hall or a ballroom. Daylight in the Workplace- In the Amphion theatre, performances are changed at a relatively high speed. To facilitate this, efficient loading and unloading is required. Mecanoo provided the loading and unloading area with enough space for three 18-meter long trucks, centred between the stages of the two theatre halls located on the same floor level. This space can also be used to temporarily house stage sets or to exchange sets between the large and small theatre halls. The main hall is equipped with fully automatic features in the 29 meter high fly tower. Uniquely, the large and small theatre halls have windows, so that the technical staff has daylight in their workplace.

6 Plans Black Box 2. Auditorium 3. Café 4. Restrooms 5. Grand Stair

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14 Model

15 Bibliography Images and information for this packet was found on following websites:

16 BLUE BARN THEATRE & BOXCAR 10 Omaha, NE Min Day 2015

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19 Conceived as an arts hub in a rapidly changing district near downtown Omaha, an experimental theater opens to the city outdoors through a public open space anchored with a mixed-use building. Three related projects share an integrated half-block to transform the relationship of cultural facilities and public / private space towards a collective urbanism. These are buildings and spaces that will transform through inhabitation. Min Day combined a 13,000 sf. facility for Blue Barn with Boxcar 10, a 10,000 sf. restaurant / residential building, and a 7,500 sf. public open space. Designed for separate owners, the projects share a common language and a unified site strategy including innovative storm water management and unconventional materials. The architects envisioned a collective and collaborative approach embracing the precision programming required (theater, restaurant, housing ) with a loose approach to team formation and project resolution (spaces and structures will transform over time). Min Day and the clients held an open competition to select the landscape design team for the open space. For Blue Barn, the team commissioned 4 artists to develop functional building elements as art works.

20 Challenged to design a building to increase capacity of the theaters while maintaining the risk-taking ethos of the Blue Barn, Min Day s goal was to enact an exciting urban environment out of the highly specific and technical requirements of the theater while promoting programmatic and material improvisation. At the core of the theater is a 1000 sq. ft. stage and 96-seat house, a hybrid of proscenium and black box types. The Blue Barn sought to mediate the technical and functional demands of a modern theater, a desire for openness and engagement with the city, and the excitement of continual and unpredictable evolution. Min Day sought a collective and collaborative approach to this urban environment embracing a loose approach to team formation and project resolution (spaces and structures will transform over time). Min Day commissioned 4 artists to develop integrated functional building elements as artworks: a custom brick vestibule by Michael Morgan; interior lighting and built-in furniture by Jim Woodfill; reclaimed wood, heavy timbers, and custom sinks by Daniel Toberer; and the very large backstage door by Chris Kemp. This approach freed the architects from the constant burden of authorship.

21 Rebar Wall: Min Day challenged the typical American construction approach that privileges assemblies of products over formed materials. Instead, the architects promoted an explicit materiality and collaborated with a general contractor and commissioned 4 artists to realize materially intensive parts of the building. The most noticeable instance is the RebarWall, a hybrid cladding system that envelops the exterior. The typical detail, welded rebar held in front of Corten sheet metal siding, transforms to accommodate special conditions around the building. The rebar both unifies and differentiates the theatre. Attempting to componentize the system Min Day designed the rebar screen in 48 panels to be bolted to the building. However, given concern about adjacent power lines (complicating crane picks) and the additional parts required for this installation, the architects radically simplified the system in the end each strand of rebar was individually welded to Corten brackets. While the underlying pattern was derived algorithmically and optimized digitally, the installation of parts is decidedly low-tech.

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29 Bibliography Images and information for this packet was found on following websites:

30 SHANGHAI CHILDREN'S ART THEATRE Shanghai Shi, China Wujie Rong 2013

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32 The Shanghai Children s Art Theater, originally named the SAIC GM Pavilion, was originally designed to be part of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. They designed the space to showcase the high tech revolution and future vision of the urban mobility system. They used aluminum as their main material, and created many curves and beautiful, intricate shapes, using the automotive industry and car-parts as their inspiration. Site

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35 SAIC-GP PLANS FOR WORLD EXPO After the World Expo, the Shanghai municipal government finally decided to transform the SAIC-GM Pavilion into Shanghai Children s Art Theater which included a 1088 seat auditorium, a 300 seat theater, a children s training center and other facitilities.

36 LOBBY SMALL THEATER MAIN STAGE FINAL THEATER PLANS What was once an open space on the first floor was transformed into the small theater and children s activity center. They were able to transform the main exhibition area into the central theater by placing a 270 degree central island stage in the center of the ample seating in the auditorium. All office and other ancillary spaces were placed on the top floor to allow for as much space as possible for the main theaters and front of house spaces.

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40 The exterior façade, which was once a solid cold aluminum exterior, was then transformed with the addition of bright orange canopy. Additionally, several more curved elements were added along the interior to add to the playful design intended for children.

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43 Bibliography Images and information for this packet was found on following websites:

44 DEE AND CHARLES WYLY THEATRE Dallas, TX REX OMA / Kendall/Heaton Associates 2009

45 Designed for the Dallas Theater Center (DTC), The Wyly Theatre, by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus(partner in charge) and Rem Koolhaas, is one of the most versatile theaters in the world. Text description provided by the architects. The Dallas Theater Center (DTC) is known for its innovative work, the result of its leadership s constant experimentation and the provisional nature of its long-time home. DTC was housed in the Arts District Theater, a dilapidated metal shed that freed its resident companies from the limitations imposed by a fixed-stage configuration and the need to avoid harming expensive interior finishes. The directors who worked there constantly challenged the traditional conventions of theater and often reconfigured the form of the stage to fit their artistic visions. As a result, the Arts District Theater was renowned as the most flexible theater in America. The costs of constantly reconfiguring its stage, however, became a financial burden and eventually DTC permanently fixed its stage into a thrust-cenium. Because of this, the architects of the Wyly theatre set out to create a theater that solved 2 issues: 1. create a space that is not prestigious or precious, keeping in tone with the original home of the DTC. 2. Create a space that allows for the same freedom and flexibility the that original theater had, while maintaining low operational costs.

46 Site Plan 1. Wyly theater 2. Pedestrian access/ ramp to ground floor 3. Winspear opera house Elaine D and Charles A Sammons Park 6 5. High School for the Performing and Visual Arts 4 6. Symphony Center 7. Moody performance hall 2 8. KPMG Plaza Hall Arts 8 1 7

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51 In order to allow for maximum flexibility for the theater group DTC, the architects reimagined the traditional theater design which originally consists of the front-ofhouse and back-of-house functions being placed around or on either side of the auditorium and fly tower. Instead, they provided stacked the other functions above and below the main performance space, creating one big theater machine. At the push of a button, the theater can be transformed into a wide array of configuration including proscenium, thrust, and flat floor freeing directors and scenic designer to choose the stageaudience configuration that fulfills their artistic desires. Additionally, the architects opted to use economical materials that could easily and inexpensively be transformed or altered, if need be. Plans

52 Sections In the typical theater, the proliferation of front-ofhouse and back-of-house spaces threatens to strangle the auditorium itself, buffering the performance from the outside world. The compact, vertical orientation of the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, with its 12 storeys, allows support spaces to be stacked above and beneath the auditorium rather than wrapped around it.

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55 The façade is made of an acoustic glass with hidden black-out blinds, so the director can choose to have the Dallas skyline and streetscape as a backdrop to the performance, or otherwise, close off the surrounding environment to the performance.

56 Model

57 Bibliography Images, text, and information for this packet was found on following websites:

58 WRITERS THEATRE Glencoe, IL Studio Gang Architects 2016

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61 Writers Theatre is a popular theater company in the Chicago suburb of Glencoe, Illinois. Founded in the back room of a bookstore in 1992, Writers has embraced intimacy as its hallmark aesthetic since the very beginning. In 2003, Writers established a larger space at the Woman s Library Club of Glencoe, but, at 108 seats, this new venue soon imposed challenges of its own. They were playing close to capacity night after night, but with very few seats to sell and production costs steadily rising, they were in need of a larger, more flexible space to allow for their growth. Meanwhile, Glencoe a suburb 20 miles north of Chicago with a population of approximately 9,000 residents embarked on an ambitious master plan to integrate more cultural and commercial spaces in the downtown area. At the same time, the existing but deteriorated Woman s Library Club building was in serious need of repair. Partnering with the Woman s Library Club and the Village of Glencoe, Writers seized the opportunity to build a custom theater center and catalyst for downtown development on the Library Club site. The company, which plays to an audience of 35,000 patrons each season, has garnered critical praise for the consistent high quality and intimacy of its artistry. With their new permanent home, Writers wanted to ensure these hallmark traits were maintained while also accommodating a growing audience base, improving their facilities for their global community of artists, and creating new relationships with the public. The resulting design, with its transparency and flexibility, is intended to energize daily life in downtown Glencoe, creating an open, welcoming space where the potential of theater to unite people across boundaries through shared experience is rendered visible.

62 The theater is anchored by a public gathering space that serves as a lobby as well as an informal space for performance, rehearsals, and audience outreach programs, and a formal space for events. Two performance venues, a 250-seat main stage and a 99-seat black box venue, as well as rehearsal rooms and other public amenities, open to this central space. A second-floor gallery walk, providing views toward the downtown, lake, and nearby grove, is structured by timber Vierendeel trusses and a lighter wood lattice hung in tension from the primary structure. In warm weather, this central hub opens to the adjacent public park and downtown, allowing the energy and interaction generated within the theater to extend outward into the community beyond. At night, it glows from within like a lantern, drawing interest and activity to this important cultural anchor and downtown Glencoe. The design of the performance spaces is intended to maximize the sense of intimacy between actors and audience and enhance the immersive experience for which Writers is known. In the larger venue, tribune seating is liberated from the walls, inviting exciting actor entrances and other innovative staging opportunities, further enhanced by a seamless transition from theater floor to stage. In a nod to the history of the company, bricks reclaimed from the Woman s Library Club building form an elaborately patterned backof-house acoustic screen that diffuses and reflects sound for an intimate aural environment. The smaller black box venue can be infinitely customized for performances and events. A rooftop pavilion and green roof offer additional event space.

63 Writers Theatre not only serves its immediate Glencoe community but also attracts audiences from the Chicago metropolitan region and beyond. With the opening of this new cultural facility, nearly 45,000 additional people could be drawn to Glencoe each year to share in the experience of the company s performances, community events, workshops, and gatherings, infusing the art of performance into their everyday lives.

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70 Bibliography Images and information for this packet was found on following websites: