Joyce Theater
The Joyce International Theater has an iconic site which is opposite the memorial for the WTC in New York City. It is an intricate site which deals with the dichotomy of commercial and memorial. This asked the design of the theater to be mediating bridge that connects the commercial and the memorial aspect of the site.
To bridge this gap, the first floor of the building is designed to become a connection in the form of a restaurant and the visibility of the street level rehearsal. Since the studio focused on occupancy, the fist step in developing the concept was to understand the different user threads such as the audience, the performers, the staff, the students and the tourists visiting the iconic site and the memorial. Diagramming the threads helped in understanding the inter-relations and interweaving of the threads, with the main threads of audience and performers creating a tension in the threater leading to the diagram of the back of house, front of house, and theater. The rehearsal spaces overlook the memorial space and act as a stepping stone from memorial to the commercial, by showcasing the dance practice. The plans of the theater are laid out such that the proscenium of the theater became the proscenium of the building, and eventually the proscenium of the site where the two user threads always come together, but never intersect. The audience and the performers enter through opposite sides of the building, thus further emphasizing the tension that occurs in the auditorium where they always visually interact without ever physically connecting.