Potemkin Theatre

Potemkin Theatre

This little theatre was the third annual Architecture Foundation Antepavilion commission for a temporary events space on the roof of a canalside artists’ studio complex in East London. Self-built by the practice, it provided valuable construction experience for architecture students and volunteers and staged a series of popular community events. The timber-frame structure is dressed with a painted canvas lining, its colours harmonising with the surrounding trees and canal. The composition and arrangement of windows and stairways is a reimagination of Monsieur Hulot’s house in Jacques Tati’s 1958 film Mon Oncle. The other side of the structure is left open, revealing the interior and thinness of the canvas frontage. The two-sided aspect lent itself to engagement from both the canal side and the rooftop. Suitable for use in different ways with flexibility for a wide range of public events, the theatre hosted talks and discussions, a children’s circus, film screenings, and dance and opera performances.

March 2019 – September 2019
(dismantled for re-use February 2021)
Location: London, UK
For: The Architecture Foundation and Shiva
Size: 27m2

Architects’ Journal Small Projects Award Finalist 2020
RIBA MacEwan Award Longlist 2020