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The centrally located screen is surrounded by the entrance (left), lounge zone (right) and acoustic tube (top)
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The structure was built on top of various historical layers: geometrical axes of the 1790s park, the remains of the 1930s amphitheater and 1970s stone Pioneers' stage
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The historical character of the park makes any severe interventions impossible. Therefore Stage has no concrete foundations. The landscape of ruins and fallen trees remains untouched by the construction.
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The back wall was designed as a communication device. White panels contain information about upcoming events, rules of the space and contacts; the list of backers and creators is exposed in the most visible place
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The lounge zone overlooks the Dnieper river
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Site plan 1:5000
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Floor Plan 1:200
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Plan 1:500
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Back facade 1:200
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Front facade 1:200
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Axonometric view
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Lo-res panel
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Name of work in English
Stage
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Name of work in original language
Сцена
Prize year
EUmies Awards 2019
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Work Location
Dnipro, Ukraine
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Studio
Stage Dnipro Community, Hip Park, Kultura Medialna Non-Profit Organization
EUmies Awards 2019 Nominees
Collaborators
Program
Ephemeral - Cultural & Social
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Labels
Installation
Site area
2500 m²
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Client
Kultura Medialna Non-Profit Organization
Total gross floor
65 m²
Completion
2017
Cost
150 €/m²
How to create a truly public space? Stage has been created entirely by citizens, using online methods of distributed work and funding. Over 200 people were engaged at all stages of its creation: contributing financially, writing the brief, designing and assembling building components. This approach is unique: architectural practice today is dominated by top-down methods of work. At Stage, anyone can organize their own event. The lightweight wooden structure stands on the public ground, open to everyone. All borders between performers and audience were abolished. Gigantic acoustic tube amplifies any music brought to the venue. The cultural program, as well as the process of construction, has been coordinated by a local NGO. But all the ideas come from Stage’s co-creators.
In the 1790s, Prince Grigory Potemkin built his residence in the city of Ekaterinoslavl, today’s Dnipro. The palace, surrounded by gardens, overlooked the Dnieper. In the 1920s, after the Bolshevik revolution, the city was renamed to Dnepropetrovsk. Potemkin’s palace was converted into a workers’ house; the park – into the city’s main public space. In 1935, a wooden theater for 2,500 spectators was erected in the park. It burnt down during World War II. For the next 70 years, the site remained abandoned. After the Maidan revolution, Dnepropetrovsk changed the name again, to Dnipro. Stage is an emanation of the vibrant culture, which emerged in postMaidan Ukraine. It was built to accommodate the needs of dozens of artists, poets, painters, and musicians, who squatted random spaces, scattered around the city. Their collective creative energy was used to reactivate the former Soviet theater. Both Potemkin’s geometrical gardens, as well as Stalin’s gargantuan theater, were superimposed on the city from the topdown. Stage is on the opposite extreme: it is a radical grassroots intervention.
Stage’s slim volume closes the visual axis running between Potemkin’s palace and the Dnieper. The long facade encloses the amphitheatrical geometry of the site, creating a cozy interior with good acoustics. Hierarchy, inherent to the propaganda theater of the thirties, is replaced by horizontality. Location of the entrance blurs borders between the performers and the audience. The structure consists of a big screen, storage space and a lounge, which overlooks the Dnieper. On the top there is an acoustic tube – an amplifier of any music brought by the performers. Building components from wood and plywood were prefabricated and assembled on site. Architecture is supplemented with greenery, a gift from the city’s botanical garden. Architectural form reflects the collective character of the process. Each creative contribution has been clearly articulated in the design. All architects, designers, builders, contributors and backers are mentioned on the credits board, which is exposed on one of Stage’s most visible walls.