Gabion: Retained Writing on Architecture
Normal Font Size | Increase Font Size
  About GabionArticlesBooksVaultsContactEmail AlertsSearchStoreHome
 


Strawdance

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

This is surely the smallest and cheapest new Lottery-funded arts building in Britain. Indeed, the Lottery mandarins are quite likely unaware that it is a building at all. On their books, it is down as some sort of eco-performance. But it is a dance studio, standing in a clearing in a Hertfordshire wood. It cost £5,500 - no, that is not a misprint - and it is made out of straw bales, rough timber, and clear rigid plastic. It is very primitive. It is also modern architecture of some sophistication.

Does it matter, after all, what you make a building out of, so long as it is fit for its purpose, stays up, and looks good? In this case, the studio is used as a private rehearsal space for classical Indian and Japanese dance, mostly by just one or two people. It suits the stylised, geometrical movements of those dance traditions, being a neutral, circular space that focuses in on the individual. Although very different dance forms, both the Indian Bharatnatyam and Japanese Butoh traditions make use of celestial references: accordingly the openings in the wall of the cylinder - door and three windows - are at the cardinal points of north, south, east and west. Your attention cannot easily wander in this intimate space - it is just six yards across, and four high - though you might get distracted from time to time by the sight of clouds through the trees waving overhead, or rain pattering and gurgling on the corrugated plastic roof.

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Email this page to a friend