Designed by Studio Alfirevic, their proposal for the Operalab Theatre Pavilion competition represents ‘live’ theater, in which different performances and experiments take place in the field of art. The suggested position of the pavilion is in the fringe area of the park, in the direct vicinity of the building of the Great Theater. The circular form of the pavilion is a subtle response to the conditions of the natural environment and it allows an equal visual experience from all sides. More images and architects’ description after the break.
In the sense of a ‘live’ theatre, the Pavilion joins the theater, cinema, dance, lecture and exhibition hall into one unique public performance promoting the activity of the Great Theater (Teatr Wielki – Opera Narodowa), in which the public participates.
The facade consists of movable ‘curtain-walls’, which can slide manually or automatically along the sliders positioned immediately below the ceiling. By moving the curtains, different spatial frames are defined and this enables a multipurpose use of the space. The Pavilion has an introvert-extrovert character. Depending on the position of the curtain-walls and type of activity, the space of the pavilion can be closed entirely (for lectures, projections, promotions), partially or it can be opened to the surroundings engaging its direct vicinity (performances and concerts).
The basic roof structure of the pavilion consists of the beam grillage (made of laminated wood 5/30cm in dimension) with toes. The roof is supported by 4 steel columns of circular cross-sections Ø20cm, which were stiffened to the beam grillage with steel wires. The columns are jointly-pinned to the base with steel pedestals. The structure of the pavilion floor consists of wooden beams 5/20cm in dimension, which are distanced from the ground by a galvanized substructure. The floor and ceiling finishing is of wooden sheet piles, colored in white and with a final coating of waterproof, highly-reflective varnish. The roof cladding is from galvanized aluminum sheet metal, painted in white with a highly reflective varnish.
The columns, like the roof cladding, are painted in a protective highly-reflective white varnish. Halogen lamps with an external diameter of Ø15cm are installed into the ceiling. Walls of the technical rooms are from gypsum plasterboards placed over the galvanized steel substructure, with a dark gray matte finishing coat. The entrance door of the room is in the same color as the walls and it follows the outer wall contour.
The curtains (the external curtain is white and the internal ones are in different pastel tones) are hanging from the ceiling structure by steel sliders of a box-like profile, with a final white coating and are distanced 5cm from the ceiling. The projection screen is 500x225cm, and it is centrally positioned onto the wall of the technical room. The screen can be folded into a box hidden under the structure above the technical room. The furniture can be folded and stored into the technical room as well.
Architects: Studio Alfirevic Location: Warsaw, Poland Team: Đordje Alfirević and Sanja Simonović
