Design Competition for Stara Zagora Experimental Puppetry Art Centre, Bulgaria

With its rich history since 1970s, the original Stara Zagora Puppet Theatre has reached the fringe for renewal and expansion- to bridge the puppetry as an artform with the contemporary era. We envisage the extension of the new theatre as a vessel to explore growing possibilities of puppetry and other art forms in Stara Zagora. Hence, the project revolves around the key design question: what could be the future of a puppet theatre considering its artistic potential in the accelerating modernity?

To imagine the new State Puppet Theatre as a cultural destination and an experimental emblem for various performance arts, we thought about a phenomenal experience unfolded but masked in a folded envelope. The architecture is dressed in almost pure geometry and warm texture, yet the transitions to interior realm are becoming more theatrical with the juxtaposition of folding planes to create spatial division in mysterious yet seamless foil. Analogous to the suspension of puppetry performance, such design of multi-layered transition accentuates the dramatic sense of contrast which is of the essence of theatre typology and performance-based programmes.

From a larger scale of the context, the puppet theatre of its pure appearance is an unorthodox and provocative existence to its amiable surrounding, drawing curiosity from the immediate passerby. Whereas from an intimate scale, the spatial threshold dramatically changes to lead the visitors from one space to another- following its diagonal walls, slanted ceilings, opening cutout and eventually to the pivotal main hall. The puppet theatre is designed in a gesture of folding to remain an introverted composure, while the culture of puppetry performance is revitalized as the spaces unfold. It is therefore a full artistic experience span across not only the dimension of puppetry arts and other types of art forms, but also the architecture and its built environment in Stara Zagora.