Theatre of Guarda

The absent complicity The TMG is situated in Guarda, in a rural part of Portugal s interior. The buildings are located in a central part of the city south of the old city limits. The site is contiguous with the closeknit urban fabric, but does not share a direct relationship with the surrounding public space. The construction site possesses an apparently invisible contextualist character. The new buildings have been designed for this particular spot, occupying a space with unique characteristics within the existing urban structure. The complex is composed of two autonomous and differentiated buildings, imposing a certain formal autonomy in its affective relationship with the surrounding environment. The implantation of the buildings encourages exterior spaces that are differentiated but not fragmented, allowing for diverse uses of the stage.

The slope of the terrain is structured into successive level platforms. The landscape rises over the stage composition imposed by the successive levels. It is a present and legible architecture, displaying a simple unity. The buildings construct a tectonic dependence on the site with a desire to reveal their formal, specific character based on their own content. Facing material consists of glass-fibre reinforced concrete panels (GRC), glass and granite supports. There was a risk of trying to design and compose the plastic elements in a way as to eliminate a single constructed mass. The objective was to create diverse stage forms and spaces, intrinsically compelling the spectator to adopt an inter-relational and heterogeneous posture.