POLIMI Course < Architectural and Town in China>

PERFORMANCE OF SPACE
From Ancient Types to Modern Representations
Transcultural Dialogue between Sino-western Theatres

Lei Kangdi
Tongji University
Chongqing, China

Yan Yuhan
Politecnico di Milano
Tangshan, China

Lucas Castro
Politecnico di Milano
Ocaña, Norte de Santander, Colombia

The science of theatre building must come from studying what it is that brings about the
most vivid relationship between people and this is best served by asymmetry, even by
disorder? If so, what can be the rule of this disorder?

— Peter Brook, The Empty Space

Introduction

Looking back at the mutual influence of Eastern and Western theatres since the 20th
century, a cross-cultural picture of intermingling and penetration is becoming clearer and
clearer: the temple theatre of vernacular China embraces modernity in the baptism of
Western theatre tradition and thus moves toward realism and reproduction; while the
experimental theatre of contemporary Western pioneers moves toward non-realism and
expression under the influence of Eastern tradition represented by China. This schema
contains a dialectic of interpenetration between the two theatre types, each seeking
conceptual support for its own innovation from the spatial traditions of the other.
Particularly noteworthy is the flexibility, improvisation and audience-centeredness of
traditional Chinese performance space and its intertextuality with gardens, which
coincide with the direction of contemporary Western theatrical innovation—when
reflected in the architectural design of theatre, it can be summarized as installation,
novelty of form, freedom of space, metaphor and openness, etc. In addition, the
worldwide collective reversion to natural places shows a gesture of architects in search
of cross-cultural universality. These efforts to go in the same direction provide valuable
insights into the creation of a new common form of human performance.

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1 Inheritance and Innovation of Traditional Theatre Types

Since 19th century, Chinese architects have been thinking about the representation of
cultural identity in large scale public buildings, and one of the most important
propositions is: how to reflect Chinese style in the architecture itself, besides additional
decorative elements? Especially for performance architecture, it means how to effectively
translate the ancient theater types in today?

1.1 Sinicism of Spatial Composition - Modern Translation of Classical

Chinese Architecture, Courtyard and Gardens

When it comes to auditoriums or theatres with traditional Chinese style, Wang Dahong's
unfinished NTU First Student Activity Center and Auditorium is an interesting attempt.
The auditorium has a sloping roof with a continuous folding slab structure that encloses
a large span of space without columns in the center. The folding slab roof is a common
term in western modern structural systems, but Wang Dahong breaks the rules by
interlocking the upper and lower slabs to create the imagery of the flying eaves of
ancient Chinese architecture; the intersection of columns, beams, and folding slabs form
a detailed design with a wood structure meaning, which reinforces the similarity between
the folding slab roof and traditional Chinese roof. The auditorium sits on a pedestal, with
a large frontal staircase and a colonnade reaching to the roof, resembling an ancient
palace; the continuous side roof has the flavor of a Gothic church, with a simple and
powerful façade shape and an overall image of dignity and elegance, without the
bulkiness of concrete construction. The important innovation of this design is that it
presents the traditional large roof itself as a necessary structure, not as a useless
decoration attached to the volumn, and achieves a strong traditional intention with a
modern structural form that is completely logical in material terms. Apart from the
influence of the Western architectural tradition, the content of the South China bamboo
theatre 1 (戏棚) can also be seen in it—the straightforward double-slope shape, the roof
reaching the ground occupying the main volume, the entrance by a short side, and the
column-free plan, etc., which is a critical inheritance of this type.

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The bamboo theatre (戏棚) is a kind of temporary shed built by bamboo poles, located in southern China
(mainly in Chaoshan, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). It has a lightweight structure that exceeds the massive
volume and span of traditional wood-frame buildings and can be built, removed or rebuilt quickly, which
reflects the wisdom of Chinese folk architecture. The traditions and construction techniques of the bamboo
theatre are still followed and preserved by local performing arts groups even today.

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 POLIMI Course < Architectural and Town in China>

Figure 1. First Student Activity Center Auditorium, NTU (Side Elevation)

Figure 2. First Student Activity Center Auditorium, NTU (Front Elevation)

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 Figure 3. The theatre at Macau, engraving from a painting by Eduard Hildebrandt
(1818-1869), illustration from the magazine The Illustrated London News, volume
XLVIII, March 17, 1866.

Figure 4. West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre, Hong Kong, 2014

As for another local characteristic theatrical space, Water Theatre in Jiangnan, the same
echoes can be found in contemporary architectural practice. The Wuzhen International
Internet Exhibition & Convention Center uses cascading tiles and draped eaves to divide
large glass curtain walls, allowing the entire building to regain its scale and texture of

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 POLIMI Course < Architectural and Town in China>

closeness to people; in addition, the building volume is dissolved into multiple parts,
linked by connecting corridors and courtyards to visually reduce oppression and
integrate into the cultural environment of Jiangnan water village. In fact, this is a
common strategy for large public amusement facilities to adapt to traditional Chinese
urban fabric throughout history. Unlike the centralized theaters in the West, the ancient
Chinese guild halls (会馆) and Goulan/Washe (勾栏瓦舍) were clusters composed of single
buildings of moderate size interconnected by courtyards, some of which were even
arranged in gardens. In this design, Wang Shu introduces a piece of water, and together
with the inner courtyard of the building, constructs an enclosed scenery. If the water is
compared to a mirror of human life, then the Internet is a boat that connects
communication, ideas and culture from all over the world: standing in front of the
square, the scattered piece of walls hold up Dougong and eaves, resembling a Wupeng
boat that ferries the audience, dividing the water surface into side stage space of
different heights and positions; with the veranda of service center as the counterpoint,
attending a meeting is like watching a touring performance.

Figure 5. Water Theatre (社戏) in Jiangnan, China

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Figure 6. Washe of Qianhu Gate (钱湖门瓦舍) in Scenic Attractions of West Lake (西湖清
趣图), By Li Song, South Song Dynasty

Figure 7. Facade of Wuzhen International Internet Exhibition & Convention Center

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 POLIMI Course < Architectural and Town in China>

1.2 Intersection of Diverse Types - Assigning Form to Contemporary

Chinese Public Theatre

Spatial types such as municipal squares, open-air theaters and amphitheatres imported
from the West are combined with the tradition of theatrical parades in rituals and temple
fairs in vernacular China, solidifying various informal theatrical spaces previously built
for short periods and improvised performances only during festivals, creating a large
number of new public spaces for contemporary China. At the same time, the flexibility,
improvisation and audience-centeredness of traditional Chinese performance space and
its intertextuality with gardens, converge with the direction of contemporary theatre
innovation.

多元类型的交汇——为当代中国公共剧场赋形

西方舶来的市政广场、露天剧场、阶梯剧场等空间类型与乡土中国的祭祀、庙会中的戏班巡游传统结
合，将以往在节庆中短期搭建的、即兴表演的各种非正式的戏剧空间固化下来，为当代中国创造大量新
的公共空间。与此同时，中国传统演出空间灵活即兴、以观众为中心及其与园林的互文性，与当代舞台
革新的方向相会。

南头古城报德广场及大家乐舞台|都市实践（广场/露天剧场/舞台）

2011 深圳香港双年展：社会剧场|标准营造（阶梯剧场）

2 Extraction of Dramatic Symbols and Urban Performance

2.1 Decentralization, Juxtaposition and Incompleteness

Theatre loses its previous emphasis on continuity, unity and uniformity, and breaks the
homogeneity of space, becoming open, changing and flowing. The juxtaposition of
different spaces deconstructs the centrality of the stage, further practicing the idea of
"synchronicity" unfolding in the space, and the autonomy of the audience is highlighted.
A fragmented vision to embody a complex aesthetic. The fragmented spatial form may
be messy, fragmented, imperfect, and may even appear to the general public to be odd
and worthless, but it is a characteristic of contemporary theater: the pursuit of conflict,
imbalance, and fragmentation, and the rejection of the hypocrisy and rigidity of standard
homogenization.

Openness, change, mobility, crossing borders

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Deconstruction, rebellion, questioning, challenge, subversion, change…

Hamburg Elbe Philharmonic Hall|Herzog & de Meuron（Waves/crystal/sails）

A characteristic that it is found in the Hamburg Elbe Philharmonic Hall done by Herzog
and De Neuron Architects as seen in the (Typical Upper Floor Plan) The performance
space is no longer organized by spaces clearly differentiated one from the other, but a
compact space where all the functions are merged creating a sort of unique space where
everything blends. As seen in the pictures all the seats are going through the central
performance space and at the same time, this central space is characterized by its
fluidity.

Figure 8. Typical Upper Floor Plan, the Hamburg Elbe Philharmonic Hall by Herzog and
De Neuron Architects

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 POLIMI Course < Architectural and Town in China>

Taipei Performing Arts Center|OMA（The stack of novel geometry shows the

experimental spirit and drama）

2.2 Interactivity, High Technology and Tendency of Installation

By questioning and deconstructing the illusory stage that used to condense and collapse
real life, everyday life begins to intervene into the theatrical space, towards a flowing
and familiar reality. The interactive immersion experience breaks the confrontation
between the stage and the audience, causing the theater space to change in all aspects
of location, form, volume, and layout, giving rise to the openness and diversity of
contemporary theater architecture. Theatre architecture has become a "collective
creation" performed by creators, performers and spectators, creating a kind of subjective
thinking of space. The development of architectural technology and installation art, along
with the emergence of new media art, has made theater architecture fully absorb the
diversity of the information age, turning it into a bizarre installation that embraces
sound, light, electricity and video.

Experimental spirit, theatricality, immersion

Taipei Performing Arts Center|OMA（The stack of novel geometry shows the

experimental spirit and drama）

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Figure 9. Section, Taipei Performing Arts Center|OMA

It can be seen in the image that the ground floor plan is just an extension of the city,
where all citizens are allowed to enter and get covered from the weather outside.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion |Gehry Partners（Sculptural city stage）

The combination of architecture, landscape and installation in Wuzhen International

Internet Exhibition & Convention Center also brings new possibilities to imagine an
outdoor theater that is easy to move and flexible to improvise, thanks to the tradition of
temporal and spatial integration of gardens, waterfront towns and performance places in
the history of Jiangnan.

Figure 10. Courtyard of Wuzhen International Internet Exhibition & Convention Center

2.3 Symbolization and Use of Metaphor

The installationized theater architecture has put an end to the narrative nature of
traditional theater. As space no longer serves the plot and function, architecture is thus
no longer bound by the usual forms, but has become a series of imagery and symbolic
expression, emphasizing the overall image it constitutes to bring the audience a gut
reaction and its reflection of the iconic vision of the city. It draws the audience's
attention away from what the building is like, thus highlighting the organic intertextual
relationship between drama and space, architecture and city, and exploring an
understanding of the relationship between theater and people.

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 POLIMI Course < Architectural and Town in China>

Experimental spirit, theatricality, immersion

Hamburg Elbe Philharmonic Hall|Herzog & de Meuron（Waves/crystal/sails）

Figure 11. Hamburg Elbe Philharmonic Hall by Herzog and De Neuron Architects

Its unique form is no longer blended with the city, it is a completely different element
even in the skyline of the city, its uniqueness makes one think of symbolization or
metaphor where architecture is thus no longer bound by the usual forms but has become
a series of imagery and symbolic expression that ends up changing the whole urban
context and not only changing it but including on its facilities spaces for urban life
activities.

Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre, Tadao Ando（Kaleidoscope/prism）

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Figure 12. Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre, Tadao Ando

Tadao Ando using his signature in-situ concrete creates a theatre building that offers
several surprising spatial moments as the rectangular volume is intersected by
cylindrical tunnels again space is trying to recreate public space on itself, making the
building as an extension to the city, where all the citizens are invited to go through.

Jay Pritzker Pavilion |Gehry Partners（Sculptural city stage）

2.4 Popularity, Urbanity and Spatial Performance

Contemporary theater is a public space, using a confrontational and strategic spatial

language, through the civilian gesture and the spirit of resistance, trying to create a
more fair and open performance place for the general public, extending the stage to the
urban context, and breathing with the contemporary urban and social atmosphere.

Popularity, equality, citizenship, urbanity, everyday life

Jay Pritzker Pavilion |Gehry Partners（Sculptural city stage）

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 POLIMI Course < Architectural and Town in China>

The decentralization of the space is crearly noticeable when looking at the urban scale
since the performance space has been included in the park, therefore, making the two of
them a unique element where there is no more unity or homogeneity of the space but a
combined element in where everything flows together in a sort of blended mode.

Figure 13. Jay Pritzker Pavilion |Gehry Partners

南头古城报德广场及大家乐舞台|都市实践（广场/露天剧场/舞台）

2011 深圳香港双年展：社会剧场|标准营造（阶梯剧场）

3 A Return to the Primitive Natural Place

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Discussion

As dramatic art itself continues to be broken through and deconstructed, the original
form of theatre space has also ushered in a torrent of change. Contemporary theatre
space and its architectural practice is a multifaceted cross-cultural action, shedding its
roots in ancient typologies, questioning a single homogenized spatial form, while drawing
from broader cultural traditions, paying homage to nature as well as the original memory
shared by humanity. In its exploration, it teaches us that theatrical performance can
take place anywhere, at any time; it can be formal or spontaneous. What is most
intriguing and enjoyable about contemporary theatre architecture is thus how the
architects and drama creators in it subtly and rationally explore, challenge and subvert
the various possibilities of the theatre space. Contemporary theatres constantly remind
us that in performance architecture, we can use any material and create any framework;
it is the space that shapes theatre, it is a culture, it is an endless imagination. Theatre
needs to be eternally revolutionary, openly inclusive, constantly exploring into the
unknown, thus theatre architecture will always be in the midst of change and creation.

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