In Alternation - a theatre of the absurd

Page 1

the Alter(n)ation


In a border town on the brink of collapse, with only the liveliness of its locals left to play the piece, a new form of the performative emerges. From absurd to coherent, the new Cluain Theatre turns Clones into an alternative theatrical Eois, where the old and the new, the spoken and the written, the felt and the seen start to (inter)play and (re)arrange. From a state of voluntary state of (in)existence, the Irish bordertown of Clones becomes an exploration ground of the relationship between dialectics and form and the resulting form of performativity. The intervention studies the allegory of ruin in relation to its state of existential non-performativity and how the notion of paradox can be used ‘to make what is invisible visible’.* Thus, the proposed theatre and writing sanctuary uses the architectural void (da), and its internalised performativity (sein), to achieve an alternative hyper-existence that uses the absurdity of form and theatrical performance as a means of attaining both a volumetric, cultural and social dramatisation of place.

alter(n)atively.

*Arata Izaki, ‘Singular Image’, in Irony or, the self-critical opacity of postmodern Architecture ed. by Emmanuel Patit (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013) , pp.117-147 (p.117).


Clones 1:10000



‘It is clear from this decree that in Irelanf at this early period plays of some kind were acted both in churches and in the cemeteries. It was customary both in England and France at the same time for plays to be acted inside the churches.’ 7th Constitution of Ireland quoted and held by Gwynn, 15c -found in Clones Library

Lennards Arms Hotel

Vernacular Dwelling

St. Tieghernach Abbey

Lennard Arms Hotel and its adjacent dwelling/nightclub complex welcome the visitor almost like an architectural curtain, an alternative chimney-ruin, transformed and distorted. This offers an allegorical theatrical momentum that encompasses the dialectical performativity of the town, its state of absurdity and (in)existent form, a concealed thetaricality that wishes to be exposed, a dialogue that strives to be coherent and will reach coherence through an alternative resolve of its (in)existent performativity.


in alter(n)ation

a play of an absurd arrangement

in

alter(n)ation

a critique

a literary/analysis of space and place

a critique

words by

Theodora Stefan

words by

Theodora Stefan

Giving life to the buildings through an externalised monologue, the personification of each found-building allows for a deeper understanding of how the absurd arrangement can become architecturally, socially and artistically coherent.

Commenting on the main motifs of the play, the critique acts as an explanatory note between the characters and the spaces that they embody, how do they personify the Abbey cluan and become translated into coherent spatial arrangements.


Site Conceptual Plan 1:200 on an A2


stage 2

stage 1 Identifying the found interventions, understanding the volumes

Open/curtain hearth wall

vernacular dwelling

added street theatre volume

an exposed model showing the tunnel (m and the open wa

moving theatre tunnel

front foyer


stage 3

mvoing theatre ) structure alls

the new added volumes are integrated and the linking volumetry is attained by the enhanced of a new open courtyard

main theatre space underground rehearsal

kept facade (internalised)

abbey reintegrated (externalised)

back foyer with a tunnel entrance


new

old

colums

tickets

1 2

3

4

7

6 8

9

Ground Floor Plan 1:100 on an A1

1

foyer

2 street theatre

3 theatre of singularity

4 rehearsal room entry point

5

6

7

8

9

theatre of multiplicity

back foyer/cafe

writer’s hut

street theatre

monastic seclusion


Site Axonometry 1:250


Existing Wes 1:10

The non-perform The active perfor

a

c

b

Sectio 1:1 a main theatre

b small th


st Elevation 00

mative is revealed rmative is concealed

on BB 100

b heatre

c rehearsal room


Existing West Eleva 1:100 The non-performative The active performative

Existing WestWe El 1:1 1:10

when the non-perfo and the performative

The non-perfor The active perfo


ation

is revealed is concealed

est Elevation levation 100 00

ormative is revealed e is actively concealed

rmative is revealed ormative is concealed


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