Volksbühne, a stage for the everyday

Master thesis (2024)

Authors

P.J.P. Vergeer Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

H.A. van Bennekom Building Knowledge - Architecture and the Built Environment (mentor)
M. Finagina Teachers of Practice / A - Architecture and the Built Environment (mentor)
R. Heykant Teachers of Practice / AE+T - Architecture and the Built Environment (mentor)
P. de Ruiter Digital Technologies - Architecture and the Built Environment (graduation committee member)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment, Architecture and the Built Environment
More Info
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Published Date

12-07-2024

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

An architectural case study research into the design of a building for the performing arts as social infrastructure. Buildings for the performing arts typically focus on facilitating paid professional performance. This thesis expands the definition of performance, challenging the traditional separation between performer and audience and rethinking the conditions of a stage. This is explored through the concept of architectural membranes and with the aim to bring people of different backgrounds together. The case study for the project is the Volksbühne theatre in Berlin, an existing monumental theatre of which the name translated from German means ‘People’s Stage’. Originally founded in 1890 as an organisation to make theatre going accessible to the working class, nowadays it serves a homogenous audience of the ‘typical theatre goer’. The objective of this project is to explore if an architectural transformation of the monumental Volksbühne can rethink its identity and turn the building into a proper people’s stage and as such take on the role of social infrastructure in society. A place for the people of Berlin to see performance and be a performer.