Municipal Theater at Arahal / Javier Terrados Estudio de Arquitectura

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Text description provided by the architects. Arahal is a small town near Seville that has begun the transformation of an industrial peripheral area into a cultural ensemble. The municipal Theater is the first building of a future complex that will also include the refurbishment of two cotton warehouses. The theater will give shelter to a triangular plaza that will relate this area to the city central quarter.

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The stage box of the new building, overscaled and designed as a tower, will be the town’s next urban landmark, both during day and night time.

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Buildings designed to house theatres use to be defined by a duality between the vestibule and the scenic hall. Extroversion vs. Introversion. Relation with the city vs. relation with the imagination. In this building these two types of space are contained in two elongated prism that are laid out perpendicularly so that they can shape the triangular plaza. The lobby is designed as the extension of the urban space, visually open to it though protected by its wide cantilevered porch.

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To make this plaza possible it is necessary to solve the demanding topography of the plot. Our proposal takes advantage of the slope in order to arrange the complexity of activities of the theatre in a simple way. Three levels are defined, each one of them corresponding with a type of user. The upper level is intended for public; it houses the vestibule and the main entrance. The intermediate level is for the artists and the staff; it has the dressing rooms and the offices. The lower level is for service, mechanical, loading and unloading, storage, etc.

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