- Collective Housing
This project is a theatre designed specifically for ballet performances, located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Its perfect square footprint emphasizes the extension of the city block and can be perceived as a continuation of the urban grid.
The architecture adopts an absolutely symmetrical square form, with a concert hall at the center, four practice rooms positioned at each corner, and private meditation rooms placed along each side. This symmetry reinforces the themes of reflection, mirroring, and framing—highlighting both the dancers' bodies and the views of the city.
In this design, both subjects (viewer and dancer) and objects (architectural frames and city views) participate in a dynamic interplay of framing and being framed. The form, windows, and frames of the architecture offer viewers an almost photographic presentation of the surrounding city. At the same time, these architectural frames are reduced to nearly imperceptible traces, creating a sense of virtual space that blurs the boundary between interior and exterior, performance and observation.