Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1966 - 27

THEATRE ARCHITECTURE

(Moderator: Mert Cramer)

Practical Problems of Accomplishing Theatre Designs
William F. Powers

I.R. CODE: architecture - consulting

When I came to Lincoln Center I think I would have been
somewhat overawed and at least a bit reluctant to face
this group of people technically involved in the design
of theatres. This afternoon, after seven years of rather
varied experiences at Lincoln Center in the design, the
construction, the maintenance and the operation of several
modern theatrical facilities, I am no longer overawed and
I am no longer reluctant; but I am fascinated and intensely interested.
I have found that you people involved in theatrical design are quite realistic. You are real technically-minded
persons who are dedicated to the development of facilities for the performing arts as a part of your career and
for the benefit of the arts as well as your own economic
benefit. You have a considerably less flamboyant approach
than I had anticipated seven years ago.
However, I found also that you are no more flexible in
your approach, nor do you have any more willingness to
compromise your recommendations than any of the other
engineers, consultants and architects involved in the
building of an arts center.
Out of this statement develops a series of problems, if
you will, or matters, or items, which I would like to take
up with you. I do not necessarily have a solution for all
of them. I do for some. My opinions are my own. If
they are not yours, forgive me. Also forgive me if the
order in which I state my problems, or matters, is somewhat unorganized. That seems to me quite natural when
we pursue the development of a major theatre through ini!lal concept, design, construction, and then into operation.
When the initial
problems of the basic concept of the
building regarding the type of performances to be held the size of the audience and the general form of the
building, the general shape of the auditorium from an
acoustic point of view - when those have been established
right at the beginning, an early question for you designers
to answer is, just who is going to use and operate this
facility and therefore should be the person or group of
persons to decide on the detailed facilities in their projected use)
My answer is that no single person will always be the
user or the operator and the facil itles must not be designed in a manner which is individually oriented in character; but it must be adaptable to several possible users
for the general purpose.

OCTOBE R 1966

In other words, you must design for a program and not
for a person.
This in turn calls for the theatrial designer
to similarly watch his own personal approach to be sure
that the results he gets reflect his competence in total
and not his competence in some one individual phase of
design that he seems to prefer over others.
Frequently we find that the buyer or owner, who may
not necessarily be the operator, has a very difficult time
discovering just what he is buying. Nevertheless, he frequently has to make the ultimate deciSion in technical
matters of space and dollars. He is a layman. Unless he
knows what he is buying he shou Id scarcely make decisions.
The various parts of theatrical design, as you well know,
can become very complex as the numerous interrelationships and inconsistencies become apparent and are developed.
So one of my first questions to some of my own consultants and architects has been, "Why not present a
simple layout of the basIc concept of rigging, another
simple layout of the basic concept of your lighting and
another simple layout of the basic concept of your movable parts of the stage? Then with these three sketches
generally explaining to a layman what you are going to
get in a theatre, follow it with a sketch showlllg how and
where these various items are controlled."
This would save innumerable conferences and confUSion
and set the stage for useful discussion of requirements
for cQ-ordination, space and money.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1966