51
chitecture and a mobile stage into a single element that could give rise to what he called “situations in process”. With this idea, he aimed to introduce the factor of time, characteristic of the stage, into architecture, characterized by formal stability, i.e., by a form that is stable over time. In this personal research, the popular tradition of mobile or travelling theaters was essential in the shift from a theoretical or reflective approach (the performance lecture) to direct architectural practice, or action (the design for the Mobile Theater). Following this tradition of nomadic theater, the caravan is the only element that generates an architectural constant, contrasting with the final layout that is always different on each occasion (Figure 8). The wagon is thus the fundamental and basic architecture for this type of theater, but not its final architecture, which is only defined by each configuration and each staging in a specific and, to a certain extent, unpredictable way. However, in the nomad tradition, the caravans were a subsidiary element, a mere technological support that transported the necessary materials to construct a covered space. In other cases, the caravan itself might have served as an elevated stage, around which the audience would gather. The Mobile Theater, in contrast, pursues an exhaustive use of the caravan as an element that shapes the architectural form of the entire space. As such, mobility is a parameter that literally affects both the physical movement of the architecture itself and the transformable quality of the space for the stage and the audience – a space
that will never be the same twice (Figure 9). In addition to this conceptual motivation, Javier Navarro’s design touches on parameters of economy, the optimum use of resources on both a material and conceptual level, how the transportation elements are used “as storage for everything during transport, and as structural elements and exterior enclosures once at the site and, at the same time, as spaces for the theatre’s services”.3 This modular spatial structure is thus self-transportable and can be disassembled, and it follows a geometric system of organization, which “consists of forming regular polygonal enclosures, where each side=the length of the module, with the number of sides equal to 2n, where n is the number of modules used”.4 The diagram in the design consists of four trucks which, in different polygonal configurations, can generate up to 21 enclosures with different forms and sizes, using the same octagonal-shaped inflatable roof. The four trucks are supported on the ground by hydraulic footings, which replace the wheels and help to level out the floors when setting up on the site. An octagonal sheet of nylon, anchored by cables along the edges, is stretched across the ground to form the horizontal plane for the space, serving as the on-site layout, and it is surrounded on four alternate sides by the four trucks that form the exterior enclosure. The four chamfered corners are made by opening the trailer doors outward at 135 degrees, closing off the octagonal figure that outlines the edges of the space (Figure 10). The roof is a lenticular-shaped inflatable form made from a double skin of nylon with PVC, which
