Teatr na Podoli
location: Kyiv, Ukraine
function: drama theatre
area: 2 686 sqm
status: built (2015 - 2017)
photo: Andrey Avdeenko
team: Oleg Drozdov, Vyacheslav Zhemir, Hanna Kosharna, Oleksandr Kuznetsov, Vitalii Pravyk, Tymofii Ulanchenko, Oksana Chebina, Kostyantyn Rudnev
The construction of Teatr na Podoli started back in the 90s and has remained abandoned ever since until recent private initiative came into play. The newly-proposed renovation project suggests considerable changes to the previous building. Its functional character has undergone significant transformations as the theater has evolved from an exclusive “palace” into an inclusive public space. Almost the whole layout scheme has been altered, together with most of the levels, which has greatly simplified the interaction between the theatre itself, its guests and the city. The fly loft and the stage are the only volumes that have remained intact. The new façade made of recycled bricks recovers the lost parceling and the volume within the overall scale of the street.
All massive technical features inherent to a theatre are placed within the retracted volume clad with titan-zinc. The building merges with the green hill rising behind it. The voids on either side of the theatre are part of the entire entertainment scenario, which is at the disposal of the guests.
The entry portal establishes both physical and visual communication between the street and the lobby, which is a venue for various events both during the day and in the evening. The portal transmits events from one space into the other, with theatre guests and pedestrians turning into actors and spectators, and vice versa, depending on the view point.
