Floating Theatre
2022 Bachelors Studio 3B
Sydney Harbour Drama House
Brief:
“The project for Architecture Studio 3B is a theatre, but not an ordinary one; it takes its cues from the Italian architect Aldo Rossi’s Teatro del Mundo – a temporary floating theatre designed and built for the ‘theatre and architecture’ section of the 1980 Venice Biennale. In its time, the Teatro del Mundo had a physical presence in the city much larger than its footprint, and it now possesses a place in the architectural imagination that defies its long-gone transient existence. Rossi himself said of his remarkable theatre that it was “situated between the house of infancy and the house of death as a place that is purely for performances, and memory and foreboding belong to it.”
Sydney’s iconic coasts and harbour’s are at the heart of our city and central to Sydney-siders lifestyles. Our incredible beaches, bays and waterways are renown for their beauty, yet less than 1% of our waters are protected. And despite our unique biodiversity and iconic landscape, 60-80% of the harbour’s edges are artificial or man-made. The development of sea-walls, wharfs and coastal urbanisation have taken away from the natural landscape and marine habitat impacting the fish that live within our harbour. The Sow and Pigs reef sits south of the headlands in the middle of the harbour’s eastern and western channels and despite being unbeknown to most, defines how the waterways of Sydney’s iconic harbour are used. The reef has caused many shipwrecks over the years and explosives were once used in an attempt to reduce its size, the reef however survived and is now only visible at low tide. I have chosen this site for its unique character, history and presence as one of Sydney’s few remaining inland reefs. Situated in the middle of the channel I hope that the theatre and its swimming, snorkeling and prospect opportunities might connect Sydney-siders and tourists alike, provide a unique opportunity to engage with the harbor and its diverse marine ecology. The theatre space attempts to celebrate the natural ecology of Sydney’s harbour and coastal rock-pools through the creation of man-made ocean pools and coves facilitating intimate moments between occupants and the marine environment in an attempt to engage the public with the site beyond the program of the theatre. The project echoes the organic form of the reef below in an attempt to celebrate the under appreciated natural landscape with a blunt façade to the east and a gradual slope towards the northwest. The exterior form encourages swimmers, scuba divers, and paddle and leisure crafts to engage with the reef, and thus the harbour at a more personal level while also acting as a natural amphitheater, framing views across the harbour. Inspired by the Opera House’s new artificial, the underside of the floating theatre will support a marine grade steel structure that will, over time, facilitate the growth of algae, seaweed and marine life, providing a home for smaller marine life, and contributing the harbour’s ecosystem as a whole.
Link to Portfolio Here
Plan
Elevations & Sections
