Partial Theatre (2004)
Corvara (PE), IT - under implementation
with Giancarlo Petrecca
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This proposal for a small open-air theatre keeps unchanged the characteristics of a place rich in environmental, historical and cultural aspects as much as possibile. It has been worked on the surface finishing touches of the ground spaces, rather than on the built volumes, and it has been studied a lighting system which would emphasize the natural wings given by the rocky face of the mountain. Some warehouses have been thought and built in a natural slope; a small wooden block has been put as the actors’ dressing room.
The spectators’ seats are divided in two different sides; the first, close to the stage, consists of curved stalls made of benches put on an artificial rise, which is floored by wooden boards. The benches are thought in a way to let the taking down of the seats in order to protect them from the harshness of winter time, while the holders can be used as single seats. The gallery is made of wood and metal instead, is light and permeable to the sight and isn’t a visual barrier nor towards the mountain nor even towards the valley. The gallery slides easily on tracks built in the floor, in order to limit the be in the way of the small road, which leads to the nearby historical centre only for the time of the theatrical plays. The flooring of the area close to the stage is of polished serpentine marble whose color dark green, almost black, emphasizes the white rocks of the stage’s elevation. The lighting is solved by lights built in the floor to mark the way, by elements of limited height, which light up small floor portionts, by hidden elements to emphasize flower beds and greenery all around it. The mountain is lighted up by floodlights put behind the stage. During the plays, the mountain can become a scene and so stay enlightened or vanish by turning the floodlights off.
