Lea Furbach
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Casa Espetaculo de Monchique
Culture wants to be preserved, cared and be experienced. So the ´Convento de Madre de Deus de Monchique´in Porto, a place of silence, seclusion and of collecting, preserving and imparting knowledge is developing to a place of coming together, learning from each other and from spectacles. A cultural process of transformation becomes manifest in the conversion of an abbey to an open air theatre. This design links the former abbey, as a place of knowledge transfer with the cultural heritage of the theatre-history. The main focus is not only to preserve the historical building ensemble, but also it‘s history should be experienced, its visual mortality and the development over centuries. This is reflected in the ruinous character at that stage, which is the essential heart of the design concept. In the course of that, the level above the historical refectory stays without a roof and becomes witness to the days, the building wasn ́t used.
casa
The top level, which was destroyed from a fire, is not going to be reconstructed, instead a gallery sympathises with the ancient floor. This gallery includes standing room for 100 persons in the auditorium and additive performance space for the stage. The wooden frame integrates spatial, but suggests a temporary charm through it‘s construction and materiality. The supporting structure is anchored in the ground. This guarantees the complete visual reset to the current situation. The ́multiple stage ́ is a medieval sort of stage, which shows all the setting at one time on different platforms. Court II is with its narrow shape and the little ́huts ́predetermined to be used as this form of a stage. In the middle age, multiple stage performances often took place on market squa- res, so the surrounding built the setting in the background. As so the little huts contribute to the medieval stage setting. It´ s supposed to arise a place, which isn ́t only visual remindful of such a sort of a stage, it also implies the atmosphere of a medieval spectacle like that. So, conventional plays are not going to take place here. The stage area is connected with the auditorium ́ with steps and ramps. So both areas will engage the visitor and be used interactively. So the borders between Artist and audience, between recipient and sender and between stage and auditorium become blurred and people using this area create a place of exchange.
! in progress !
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