잉글랜드 사우스햄튼에 위치한 팝업 우드 시어터는 Nuffield Theatre극단의 공연을 위한 가시설 구조물로 무대와 관객과의 밀착된 공연환경 구축을 위해 아레나 타입으로 디자인된다. 흡사 축구장과 퍼포먼스 홀이 결합되어 있는 듯한 공간구조를 보인다. 이는 극장 스페이스의 드라마틱한 타이폴로지 생성을 컨셉으로 잉글랜드 축구문화에 매치데이를 연상시키는 다이나믹한 관중석 배치로 완성된다. 그리하여 구축된 극장은 심플하며 경제적인 -한대의 크레인의 운용을 통해 구축가능한- 방법론을 구조계획에 적용, 우드팀버를 이용한 빔앤 포스트 모듈 시스템으로 완성된다. 규칙적인 모듈 속에 건축의 리드믹컬함을 동시에 구현하는 디자인은 임시공간의 한계성을 넘어 지속적인 커뮤니티 스페이스를 제공하게 된다.
reviewed by SJ,오사
This pop-up wooden theatre in Southampton, England, was designed by London architecture collective Assemble to look like a cross between a performance venue and a football stadium
Named The Playing Field, the temporary structure was commissioned by the Nuffield Theatre to host stage performances during a 17-day arts festival that took place in the city earlier this month.
Assemble – who has previously created pop-up theatres in a Sussex field and a former London petrol station – conceived the 450-seat venue as a hi-tech Tudor theatre with the drama and spirit of a sports arena.
Photography is by Jim Stephenson, apart from where otherwise indicated.
"A central tenet of the project was to widen participation and attract new audiences to the theatre," explained James Binning, one of the architects that makes up the Assemble collective.
"The ambition was to create a dramatic new typology of theatre space – drawing on the architecture, crowd dynamic and match day ritual of football culture. Utilising the aesthetic and architectural language of Britain's football stadia, the auditorium creates a spectacle that occupies an area between theatre and football, " he said.
The team added large wooden gates on opposite sides of the building, allowing members of the public to wander through the space outside of performance times. There was also no raised stage, so performances all took place at ground level.
"The Playing Field is intended as a setting for ambitious and rambunctious ensemble performances," said Assemble's Paloma Strelitz.
"In the day the large stage doors can open and the raked auditorium can form the backdrop to the daily life of the square. The idea is to create a theatrical experience both for those watching productions and for passers-by," she said.
The architects worked with engineering firm Structure Workshop to develop a framework that could be built simply and efficiently, with only a single crane used to lift structural elements into place.
The location in the city square prevented the addition of ground fixings, so a rigid structure was designed to weight the structure down. This involved creating a system of timber modules, supported by criss-crossing steel braces.
"The structural strategy was to create a timber beam-and-post module that could be repeated around the perimeter of the theatre," explained engineer Pete Laidler.
"This module was adapted to turn the corners and span the goal openings without visibly altering the architectural rhythm."
The timber modules create a colonnade around the perimeter of the structure. Steel bracings are picked out in red, creating an affinity with plastic seating and entranceways in the same colour.
The first floor accommodates a technical gallery, while stage lighting is attached to a truss structure suspended overhead.
One of the plays staged in the theatre during the festival was The Saints, a dramatisation of the highs and lows of being a Southampton Football Club fan.
from dezeen