A Temporary Home for The National Theatre in Oslo
Description
The National Theatre in Oslo is set to start refurbishment in 2022, which is expected to last for 5-6 years. While this goes on, The National Theatre needs another space to be.
The typical approach for this situation when another theatre can’t be rented is to build a tempo- rary building or tent. But in a city like Oslo, that is currently undergoing a lot of transformation that involves tearing down older buildings, could one of these buildings be adapted and get a second life as the temporary home for the National Theatre? And with this approach, could the project also act as a catalyst for a developing area?
The building I chose was Økern Senter, a closed down shopping mall and office in Økern, right in the future centre of Hovinbyen, Oslo’s largest development area. Økern Senter consists of an 18 story office tower, 3 two-storey “pavilions” and a subway stop “pavilion” connected by a glass covered indoor square. It all sits on top of a two storey parking garage and storage space.
In my project different functions are housed in the different pavilions, and the largest pavilion houses the main stage. The glass covered indoor square is the building’s main cir- culation area and lobby. Because of it’s great daylight qualities this space is also an open workshop space for the wardrobe, hair and props departments. This way part of the back of house functions are exposed to the audience and creates a better connection between theatre and audience. To make the main auditorium part of the building is torn down and opened up to get enough open space and so that different floors can be used as different balcony levels. Other parts of the building are used more as is. I imagine the project using a lot of recycled materials like plywood, OSB boards and construction timber.