Part of the old Faculty of Sciences of Lisbon, this building from the 1920s had been used as a cafeteria and an assembly hall for students. The project reused the long and narrow edifice to host a local theatre company, called United Artists. Composed of two symmetrical wings with a series of arched windows, each of these naves was transformed into a black box. One of them holds seating for 140 people, while the other is used for rehearsals and exhibitions. The reception hall is at the middle, painted cadmium yellow. The color, a tribute to the Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, signals the entrance to both wings. Overall, the intervention was a low budget “paint job”. It nevertheless sets a background for real action, onstage, where theatre takes place.
Date: 2009-2011 | Location: Lisbon, Portugal | Client: Artistas Unidos and University of Lisbon | Architecture: Patrícia Barbas, Diogo Lopes