Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1993 - 36

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imenral rhearre (designed by lvlGA archirecrs/Roben Davis, consulranr) using
pull-our gymnasium-sryle searing. A new
poly-sided laborarory rhearre for rhe Universiry of Arizona, Tucson (Archirecrure
One, Lrd./Perer George, consulranr)
seems somewhar reminiscenr in overall
form of rhe Dickinson College "Schlecrer
Audirorium" of 19-1 (Archirecrs Collaborarive/BBN Consulranrs). Some spaces
are now being convened for a second or
rhird rime in older insrirurions such as
Hunrer College in ew York Ciry where
rhe small audirorium and srage of rhe
"high school" for rhe College of Teachers
was remodeled in rhe mid-sixries inro an
open space, and in 1990 remodeled again
ro resrore a sense of form ro rhe room
(Ashok Bhavnani, archirecr/Joel E.
Rubin, consulranr).
The mosr nored examples of bl:lck
box rhearres are, however, rhose rhar
musr accommodare a larger number of

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parrons and facilirare rheir high degree of
converrible form by including a good
deal of mechanizarion. We have already
seen Gerhard \'(!eber's "Small Thearer" in
l\lannheim complered in 1957 as an
early and exceprional example in rhe
posrwar German rhearre. The Hugh
Srebbins, George C. Izenour Loeb
"Drama Cenrer" ar Harvard Universiry
in 1960 received exceprional recognirion.
The Loeb conrains a highly original and
aniculared elecrro-mechanical solurion of
lifrs and rurnrables ro solve rhe problem
of changing rhearre form and rhis original machinery is in use ro rhis day.
John Rorhgeb's "Thearre Room" ar rhe
niversiry of Texas (1961) is an early and
brillianr example. Since rhere is vinually
no machinery insralled, rhe e1emenrs are
manipulared by hand. This example on a
college campus has been used mosr successfully for over 30 years in rhe rraining
of srudenrs ar rhe universiry. Many of rhe

wall panels in rhis room may be accessed;
rhe ceiling modules may be lowered and
are rhen held in place by chains. The
f100r modules are pushed up inra place
or lowered by a hydraulic ram, and rhen
held by pins running rhrough rhe adjacenr posrs.
The Ladd & Kelsey/Jules Fisher/Olaf
Soor "Modular Thearer" (1971) ar California Insrirure of rhe Arrs is ingenious
and rhe smaller modules allow added
f1exibiliry. The f100r modules in rhis
insrance are placed wirh a ponable air
compressor and rhen pinned ro keep
rhem in place.
erhaps rhe mosr expensive and fully-equipped
of rhe modular rhearres
is rhe Schaubuhn im
Mendelsohn-bau, rhe
new home for rhe Perer
Srein Schaubuhne complered in July

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15'-34

1993 WINTER

TD&T

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 1993
