garajistanbul
Contemporary Performance Centre
MArS Architects
Istanbul, 2007
MArS Architects
Istanbul, 2007
Approach
garajistanbul is a spatial transformation project, and its name reflects this. We turned the 600 sqm basement level of the Galatasaray Garage into a contemporary performing arts venue. The concept is simple: we built a garage in which plays are staged.
As you enter and move deeper into the venue, it changes character: from street to garage, and from garage to performance area. The venue has none of the usual defined areas. Plays and dances can happen anywhere, and everything is mobile. There is no fixed stage or seating. The stage, dance platforms and seats are rearranged before every performance, like the lights and scenery, so the space looks different each time.
To create this "un-oriented platform", a space with no fixed front, we started from the garage itself. A garage is a place where music is played, inventions are developed and every kind of creative work happens, and that was our starting point. Our main goal was a large, comfortable garage. We kept its hard floor, entrance ramp and open areas, and added what a performance venue needs: a lighting grid, kilometres of cable, mobile platforms and seats, all placed without hiding any of the garage's own elements. A play can be staged in the far corner or in front of the windows at the entrance, since the lights can hang anywhere on the grid that spans the ceiling. The audience can form a circle around the actors in the centre, or 160 people can watch a baroque opera in classic seating.
We wanted to treat every possible activity equally. The space is not part of the scenery, but a background to everything else.
Pre-Construction Performances
Construction
Opening Ceremony
A Neutral Space for Performative Arts
garajistanbul is a space transformation project for performative arts where the “objet trouvé” (found object) being a former car park and the “objet transformé” being a platform for all performative arts.
The space has three zones: the entrance, which continues the street; the foyer, a transition zone; and the Black Box, a neutral space that adapts easily to whatever activity it hosts.
The space has three zones: the entrance, which continues the street; the foyer, a transition zone; and the Black Box, a neutral space that adapts easily to whatever activity it hosts.
The floor is industrial grade polished concrete, which takes platforms, special surfaces and coverings easily. The ceiling is the technical backbone of the space: a 1 x 1 m steel grid spans the whole space, foyer included, and carries cables, lighting, sound and special equipment. Above the grid, beneath the dark painted wall coverings, an extensive set of sound deadeners gives the space its acoustic comfort.
Capacity ranges from 10 to 600 spectators, depending on the performance.
