MArch Architecture Unit 21 The Bartlett School of Architecture 2015
Figs. 21.11 – 21.12 William Molho Y5, ‘City of Edges: Helsinki dramatic and evolving backdrop to a number of stages and an Quarried Theatre’. Helsinki granite bedrock has been widely opportunity to expand the performance spaces when the relied on for excavated and underground structures over the water freezes. last century. Across the city, exposed, raw rock outcrops, act as natural public spaces. The project, at an urban scale, looks at visible granite patches around the peninsula, incorporating an interest for the new machining technologies for granite, to create a network of extracting and designing facilities. The theatre project, based on Harakka island is inspired by the monumentality of abandoned stone quarries. In a first step, a quarry is used to provide material for the workshops. Secondly, the theatre design elements (seating, stages, lobby and bar) are carved into the stone and finally, the furniture elements of the theatre are built in the island workshops. The sea creates a 257