In this era of strong support for performing arts facilities in Seattle, we have historic opportunities to break traditional boundaries and allow theaters to have a more dynamic impact on their settings and potential audience. Theaters can combine the best of traditional theater design, modern technology, and the art and technique of contemporary theater. With performance art as a model, new possibilities open up. Architecture can mediate between experience and place. As theater moves out of the auditorium, design decisions are as much about the sensation, perception, and experience of place as about traditional architectural elements of window, wall, or column.
Ambiguity is the key.
In order to create an overlap between the outside world and the actual performance onstage, ambiguity can be used as a strategy to achieve a compelling experience. It is possible at the same time to enrich our understanding of the way a building can interact with the site, regardless of the type. In exploring the relationship between daily life and the experiences of performance, we can intensify the relationship between the performance, the audience, and community at large. Some of our recent projects illustrate this interaction between life, theater, and architecture. This project has been designed in collaboration with set designer Robert Israel, lighting artist Leni Schwendinger and landscape designer Kathryn Gustafson.