Intersectional Performing Arts Center
[Site: New Haven]
Jan. 2021 -May. 2021
Instructor: Sara Caples & Everardo Jefferson & George Knight
Course: Advanced Design Studio- YSoA
Individual Work
“I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage. A man walks across this empty space whilst someone else is watching him, and this is all is for an act of theatre to be engaged.” - Peter Brook.
Theatricality relies on the tension between actors and viewers, and theatre space stages this tension. Located at the corner of the New Haven nine-square grid and in close proximity to the highway and Union Train Station, this performing arts center puts forward the question of who can be an actor in this performance space as the site bears the potential to welcome a mix of demographic groups. Juxtaposing a skatepark and a modularized theater that can efficiently transform into various stage types, I aim to open up the possibilities for skaters and citizens to be actors in this space. The design pays close attention to creating sets of relations between the foreground and background, setting up the juxtaposition of different movement velocities, and stages a confrontation between the street and high culture.