DESIGN NAME: The Architecture of the City
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Theatre Performance
INSPIRATION: Inspired by Aldo Rossi’s The Architecture of the City, Rossi suggested that “the city is the locus of the collective memory” in which architecture carries an imprint of its citizens' lives, history and culture. This inspired director Mathias Woo to adopt the stage use of bamboo scaffolding, a commonly seen architectural element in Hong Kong. This multi-media architecture music performance transformed the “collective memory” of Hong Kong into an audio-visual experience.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: "The Architecture of the City" poses a contrast between the old and present-day Hong Kong. Through the interaction between the bamboo structure, images, music, stage and lighting, together with the use of recycled materials in costumes design, the performance creates an experience of an alternative space and a reflection on the city as an organism that keeps on changing.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: Besides bamboo scaffolds, director chooses to use sound and music as another key frame of the performance to interact with and bring out how Hong Kong is like. The show’s main melodies consisted of the unique sounds of Hong Kong, together with live music improvisation and chanting by performers. In comparison with classical melodies, the band focused on depicting a city’s noise with their music, interacted with text and the city’s photos to produce a city soundscape unique to Hong Kong.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The Architecture of the City, a stage performance which was planned in early 2016 and makes the first debut at the 5th Architecture is Art Festival in 2017 at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and had a re-run in 2018. Upcoming appearance will be in Festival Hong Kong 2019 - A Cultural Extravaganza@Shanghai in Shanghai.
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The stage design revolves around the bamboo scaffolding, showcasing the Chinese renowned architectural technique. Whilst most modern architecture relies on sketches and plans for its construction, the bamboo scaffolders are professionally trained so that they can build an installation by knowing only its size. The bamboo structure on the stage interacted with LED lights and the projection of live audio interactive digital images, creating an experience in which the audience views an ever changing scene.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Staging at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre which can seat 1734 people, and on the stage, there was a 5m x 5m x 5m bamboo structure built on the revolve centred on wagon. The continuous changing photos, soundwaves and quotes from Aldo Rossi were projected by using Christie®Boxer 2K30, a30,000 lumen, 60Hz, 3DLP®projector.
TAGS: stage, performance, theatre, architecture, multimedia, music, bamboo scaffold, Hong Kong experimental theatre
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: I walk down the streets, filled with a lot of sounds and many different smells.
These memories stay in my mind even till now.
A city is composed of many artifacts and components.
Most of these components are architecture.
These architectural structures form the experiences of our lives, and these experiences form our memories.
A city is an organism that keeps on changing.
Cities are continuously changing, and no city remains forever the same.
What remains unchanged is that the cities keep changing.
A city is a place that produces memories and feelings.
A city is a system built up by architecture.
CHALLENGE: Zuni theatre is an eternal experimentation, conducting technological experiments in the theatre.
Theatre is a space constructed by technology.
Theatre technology defines the possibilities of a performance.
Technology and theatre are inseparable.
Understanding technology allows the invention of the future of theatre.
What is the future?
The relationship between watching and performing in the age of cellphones.
The theatre of the future, the imagination of the audience.
The creation of an artist.
A more proactive audience?
Or, with technology, all options are but one kind of option.
ADDED DATE: 2019-02-20 07:11:14
TEAM MEMBERS (9) : Director, Script, Stage, Image & Multimedia Design: Mathias Woo, Music Director and Arrangement: Yu Yat-yiu, Piano Performance: KJ Wong, Music Performance: Josie and the Uni Boys, Performers: Chang Yao-jen, Albert Tsang, Wu Kun-da, David Yeung, Illustration: Lai Tat Tat Wing, Costume Designer: Lo Sing Chin, Bamboo Installation Production: Wing Kei Flower Store (HK ) Ltd. and Graphic Designer: Rachel Chak
IMAGE CREDITS: Zuni Icosahedron
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