Paris-based architectural and scenography firm Studio Andrew Todd has produced a proposal for a novel theater made primarily of recycled paper. Paper Bale Theater can be constructed and dismantled relatively easily and cheaply, and will feature everything necessary to stage a play or show.
Paper Bale Theater is a 135-seat circular theater concept constructed from mostly renewable sources, which can be employed for temporary performances. The proposal calls for four entrances (two for the audience, two for the performers), and a floor made from rental scaffolding boards nailed together, which could be placed atop tennis balls to provide a sprung floor. The audience seating is made from either paper or hay bales.
Studio Andrew Todd estimates that specialist contractors will require around three or four days to erect the Paper Bale Theater, and this will be carried out at a projected cost of £10,000 (roughly US$15,000).
The primary building materials are a one-piece steel frame, bamboo struts, and bales of recycled paper. The walls are constructed from compressed card and paper, while the roof material is derived from a double-membrane of recycled circus tent fabric. Studio Andrew Todd explains that this design will offer a significant degree of sound insulation.
The company further reports that once the theater is dismantled, the paper bales could resold for the same price at which they were originally purchased.
Questions abound concerning the Paper Bale Theater's practicality and even safety (one imagines it could easily become a fire hazard, for example), but providing Studio Andrew Todd tackles these issues, it's sure to be a unique venue to enjoy a play.
Studio Andrew Todd will further explain its concept at the World Stage Design Exhibition this September, in Cardiff, UK.
Source: Studio Andrew Todd via Inhabitat
