STORIA DELL'ARCHITETTURA DEI TEATRI

The course aims to provide students enrolled in first year with the basic information and essential tools to understand the "history of theater architecture" through the protagonists of the Italian and international context; the second main goal is to equip the students with critical ability in evaluating the evolution of these architectures, comparing spatial forms and artistic languages, a mirror of different cultures and eras.

• lectures,
• lectures with experts,
• visits
• Mid-Term tests

The course deals with the history of buildings, or building complexes, intended for shows: architecture that welcomes social events in which actors and the public collaborate on a dramaturgical text. The main questions of architecture are investigated starting from the archaic forms of theater, the Greeks, the Romans and the theaters of the east, crossing the centuries with an excursus that culminates in the "Sala all’Italiana", the longest-lived space, which has been consolidated in specific buildings since the Sixteenth century, becoming urbanistically recognizable poles and characterizing cities, between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries (opera houses). These places gave birth to the crafts of the theater architect and the scenographer. At the end of the program, the architecture of the theaters of the Twentieth century and the cultural reforms that lead to the crisis of the "Italian theater" and the rethinking of the relationship between spectator and actor will be discussed with a profound modification of the planimetric and distribution scheme. The space of the theater will pass from the mimesis of reality to the declared fiction, shifting the attention to other performative forms and other types of spaces. This overview gives some monographic insights into case studies: places and architectures, themes, theories and protagonists intertwine in an excursus on theater architecture and its role in society through some of the major theatrical architecture in history (Italian, Sicilian, foreign).

Among these to name a few: the Greek Theater of Syracuse, the Municipal Theater of Syracuse, the Massimo Theater and the Politeama of Palermo, the Farnese Theater of Parma, the Olympic Theater of Vicenza, the Municipal Theater of Bologna, the Scala Theater of Milan, the La Fenice Theater in Venice, the Schauspielhaus in Berlin; the never-built buildings of Gropius and Majerchold '; the dynamic and flexible projects of Sacripanti (Cagliari), Tompkins (United Kingdom), Gonzalo Byrne (Portugal), or the innovative New Florence Opera House designed by ABDR.

Integration with the arts and artistic avant-gardes will follow the treatment hand in hand by completing the student's knowledge, restoring his ability to exhibit and deal with specialists.

A. Evolution of theatrical space (4 CFU)

1. F. Cruciani, Lo spazio del teatro, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1992. pp. 3 -176.

2. M. Tafuri, Il luogo teatrale dall’Umanesimo ad oggi, in “Teatri e Scenografie”, Touring Club Italiano, Milano 1976, pp. 25-185.

3. E. Garbin, La geometria della distrazione. Il disegno del teatro e della scena dell’opera italiana, Marsilio, Venezia, 2009, pp.13-312.

B. Monographic analyses: case studies (2 CFU)

4. AA.VV. Il Teatro Comunale di Siracusa, 1872-2013, Morrone Editore, Siracusa 2013, pp.35.

5. P. Barbera, Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda, artista, architetto, ingegnere, Pielle Edizioni, Palermo 2008, pp.51-88 (T. Politeama e T. Massimo, Palermo); 109-114 (T. Comunale, Siracusa).

6. B. Adorni, L’architettura a Parma sotto i primi Farnese, 1545-1630, Diabasis, Reggio Emilia, 2008, pp. 99-123 (T. Farnese, Parma).

7. E. Garbin, La geometria della distrazione. Il disegno del teatro e della scena dell’opera italiana, Marsilio, Venezia, 2009, pp.312-399 (T. Comunale, Bologna; Teatro alla Scala, Milano; T. La Fenice, Venezia)

8. O. Lanzarini, A Muffato, Il sogno dell’architettura come macchina di piacere. Il teatro in epoca contemporanea, in O. Lanzarini, A. Muffato, ‘Teatri e luoghi per lo spettacolo‘, Electa, Milano, 2008, pp.5-35.

9. D. Abbado, A. Calbi, S. Milesi, Architettura & Teatro. Spazio, progetto e arti sceniche, Il Saggiatore, Bologna, 2007, pp.137-181 (Coprogettare).

10. F. Serrazanetti, Sei teatri nel Regno Unito. Haworth Tompkins, in «Casabella» n.887-888, luglio/agosto 2018, pp.5-25.

Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.

N.B. The parts of text and articles will be provided collected in dispensation by the teacher.