the four pillars: theater || community || history || sustainability
Beyond the Proscenium
Theater is about bringing people together — to learn about themselves and the world around them. The design for the Gerding Theater takes this notion one step further by extending the visitor’s experience beyond the proscenium and the walls of the theater to create a deeper, more relevant experience with the art, the building and the activities that take place both inside and outside the performance hall.
To discover the community’s expectations of the project, local design firm The Felt Hat was hired to conduct research and create an “Experience Design” plan. The desire most frequently heard was for an open, stimulating, user-friendly environment and a more interactive relationship between the company, the building and the audience – in contrast to the static, transactional experience typical of most traditional venues. Internationally recognized design consultant Ed Schlossberg further refined this idea by suggesting that the concept of the “proscenium” should extend beyond the confines of the stage, out into the lobby and even onto the street, so that the “theatrical experience” could actually begin the moment the audience encountered the building, rather than waiting until the curtain rose.
A dedicated team of architects, artists and designers have worked together to create a most unusual theatrical experience at the Gerding Theater at the Armory. But what makes it even more unique is that this design also embraces the highest standards of historic preservation and green building design and is imbued with a casual and inviting atmosphere that gives visitors a range of compelling reasons to come inside, to linger and to return time and again.
You can see the interactive pieces that Second Story designed for our lobby and read a posting about them by clicking here.
Key elements of the experience design include:
The Lobby
From the moment the audience steps off the street and into the Gerding Theater, we want them to experience a sense of anticipation and adventure. To accomplish this, long-time PCS collaborators – director/designer Nancy Keystone (Underneath the Lintel, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Antigone) and lighting designer Peter Maradudin (West Side Story, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Anna in the Tropics, Hamlet, The Bacchae, Little Foxes, Terra Nova) – were invited to create a design for the lobby that would be both welcoming and theatrical. The centerpiece of their design is a large, three-tiered chandelier that can be seen from all levels of the lobby’s interior. Consisting of 184 tiny 15-watt bulbs hung from monofilaments, the chandelier creates the effect of fireflies or stars suspended in mid-air. The ceiling is dotted with floodlights that create a wash of light to illuminate the buildings’ magnificent wooden bow trusses, whose color can be changed for dramatic effect. Between the elevators is a 22-foot “fire wall,” manufactured by Bullseye Glass Resources and local artisan John Tess, with energy-efficient lights flickering behind individual panes of amber colored art-glass to create the effect of a campfire or candles in a grand cathedral.
Interactive Displays
The lobby also contains a variety of multimedia kiosks created by Second Story Interactive Studios, where visitors can access information about the Armory’s history and the sustainability features of the building, as well as information about upcoming Portland Center Stage productions, classes or special events. Second Story has also devised an exciting new way for Portland Center Stage to recognize its donors and supporters by projecting their names onto a frosted glass wall outside Key Private Bank Ovation Room on the mezzanine to create a kinetic “sculpture.”
The Beacon Project
As one of many innovations, the Gerding Theater has foregone the traditional theater marquee, and in its place, Portland sculptor James Harrison was commissioned to create an original, sculptural “sign” more in keeping with the uniqueness of the overall design of the building. Located on the corner of NW 11th and Davis, the sculpture, entitled “Airorema,” is named after an apparatus used in ancient Greek theater to signal the appearance of the gods. The base of the sculpture is a large cloud that tapers off into a bright star above. Lit internally by fiber optics, the color of the sculpture can change to mirror the lighting inside the main lobby.
The Sliver Park
On the north side of the building, landscape architect Scott Murase has created an 18 x 200 foot “sliver” park to greet visitors to the Gerding Theater and to serve as an urban oasis from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding neighborhood. The park features native trees and plants, a water feature that extends the entire length of the block, comfortable yet durable outdoor seating areas and a series of small swales that will collect and clean rainwater runoff from the roof. It will also provide Portland Center Stage with an outdoor area in which to host events and stage performances during the summer. The Sliver Park is due to be completed in the Spring of 2007.
We hope that the Gerding Theater will become a destination for theater lovers, neighborhood residents and workers, out of town guests and even those who may not be inclined to attend traditional arts performances. We also hope that this artfully conceived space will encourage visitors to experience the magic of a live theatrical production.
— Kathy Budas, from the Gerding Theater Opening Celebration Program
Loading ...
