Premise

Art is a repository of a society’s collective memory; it tends to preserve what historical facts cannot. It is a form of representation of culture and tradition in most lucid form and acts as a visual language that speaks to all. It has become a chronicle that has created different identities for itself, namely, visual, performing, and written.

Art creates ocular stories that cannot be divorced from its cultural implications and must be embraced. It has the power to awaken all your senses and convert them into ideas. It has been shaping society and culture subconsciously from times unknown. Art’s transition from utilitarian purposes and aesthetics into work of expression happened hundreds of years after its birth. Where is it now?

Art is the fundamental form of representation yet it is unnoticed, at the comfort of our screens there is a visual barrier that deprives us of its actual flavour.

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Img 2: A boy playing music in a busy street - Unnoticed by passers - A concept

Art in life?

Art as a symbol of expression has been voicing society’s opinions and grievances and has been present through wars and victories. Today, tables have turned and art is restricted to reach only a handful who have developed an interest by virtue.

Although art has made its presence through digital media and has taken various roles (in the form of visual, performing and written arts) and built a virtual relationship, there is a disconnect that exists.

This gap has been aggravated by limited accessibility and unavailability of art everywhere. Lack of direct interaction opportunity with performing arts and the cost restrictions that accompany when one wishes to experience a live performance in a theatre has diminished the association we shared with art.

Will this ever change?

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Img 3: Diminishing interest in theatre arts - A dystopian view

Issue

Enjoying any form of art sounds implausible to a large number of people who have never experienced art physically or found an opportunity to build a relationship. From an artist’s perspective, pursuing any form of art as their means of livelihood for sustenance is a far-fetched dream.

Entertainers, dancers, painters and street artists use open public spaces for their performances. They have enabled the option of an exclusive form of interaction for the audience by offering art as an experience and expression. They have challenged the antiquated form of displaying art only in theatres by their performance. Their reach is bound by a lack of infrastructural support on performance locations or the disengagement of spectators with art.

Can we as designers suggest an alternative to house such artists by giving them an open platform to explore their potential? Can this intervention help re-establish the disconnect of people with art?

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If art is the pinnacle of expression,

then why is it understood by only a few?

Art was meant to be universal yet it seems art is ~~not~~ for everyone.

Img 4 An artist playing and seeking contributions

Brief of the competition

Art is timeless. However, the mediums to show art in the physical realm are quite outdated. Theatres helped in the past in a generation when television and internet were yet to gain traction. In today’s world if people are not coming to view art (because of many factors), can’t art forms reach out to people? Can architecture and technology help us to reach out audiences in a way that appeals in today’s age?

The idea behind this design is to bring theatre like experience to streets at a very tiny price as well as at the convenience of the artist/performer.

Brief: This problem takes inspiration from street artists and equips them with an instantly available theatre to showcase their art and talent on the streets of Madrid. The challenge here is to design a shared portable theatre box for a group of street artists.

Img 5: Portable Theater for an artist in a public place - A concept

Objectives

The Operatruck is conceived to be an all inclusive set up of what an artist should need for a performance, be it lights, speakers, props, backdrops, seats, modern visualization equipments, etc. The portable theatre box has to be compact in nature, keeping in mind an ease of movement through streets/urbanscapes or while being towed by a car. The artist’s setup designed is not conceived as a place for living for the artists, but as portable theatre only.

Mobile: Design should follow principles of portability, ergonomics and mobility.

Flexible and Expandable: The device must be Expandable enough to be placed in any public plaza across the city.

Technology: Integrate new mediums of technology and visualization in the operatruck.

Adaptive: The operatruck should be flexible enough to accommodate needs of diverse kinds of artists (painters, musicians, entertainers, etc.)

Img 6: Aerial View of the city, Madrid

Madrid, Spain

Spain and its culture is widely known for Flamenco music and dance, bullfights, vibrant beaches and lots of festivals and art forms that can be relished only when experienced live. It has been one of the cultural centers of Europe for thousands of years and has a culture that is based on a combination of historical influences, primarily that of Ancient Rome. Madrid the capital city of Spain with almost 6.6 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area, and the third largest city in the European Union. The city lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of the country. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic and cultural centre of the country. It houses the famous Golden Triangle of Arts that comprises of three Museums and has one of the most visited art museums in the world.

Img 7: Public spaces around the city of Madrid

Public spaces of Madrid

The city has a number of plazas and public squares in small and large scales that house open markets, gathering spaces, community space for the residents. Since 2010 the residents themselves have taken initiative to revamp unused urban spaces into areas of collaborative art and cultural centers. Campe de la cebada, La Tabacalera, were few of such projects that reclaimed old urban spaces to provide space for cultural and art events. A few of these public spaces are documented above where most of our artists are found performing. Every public space has a different flavour and a different challenges to put on a show.

How can architecture add value to these places in a temporal medium?

Img 8: Operatruck of an artist in Plaza Mayor - not to scale

Volume of the OperaTruck

The design site is conceived as a volume, which finds its maximum shape by fitting in the dimension of portability and vehicular movement around the city of Madrid (shown in pg 09). This makes the operatruck a universally possible concept for artists all around the world. The height is restricted at 5m, but participants may consider a variety of uses when put in different locations, multiple configurations. Participants can begin from a single plaza of Madrid or generic urban space to kickstart the design process and take inspiration in design through the context of this city. The design outcome can communicate to the urban scenarios of the world as well.

Judging Criteria

The entries will be judged by an international jury of the competition on the following criterions:

Opera Truck

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