Architects have been involved in set design for all kinds of performance since the time of Palladio, and opera is no exception. One of Mozart\u2019s most popular operas, \u201cThe Magic Flute,\u201d is visually synonymous with Karl Friedrich Schinkel\u2019s rapturously mystical stage designs from 1816. More recently, as opera has continued to reinvent itself for new audiences, it has tapped into big-name architects to draw in fresh crowds and creative ideas.<\/p>\n
Schinkel\u2019s design for \u201cThe Magic Flute.\u201d Image courtesy Wikipedia<\/i><\/p>\n
Architects get something out of it, too. Besides being an opportunity for them to show off in front of a theater full of well-heeled potential clients, the opera stage offers them a chance to try out some of their most dramatic concepts on an open platform with no programmatic constraints.<\/p>\n
Because opera stages are so intensely mechanical, architects can also use them to do things that would not be possible in a conventional project. As Rafael Vi\u00f1oly<\/a> puts it: \u201cDesigning sets is an interesting field because you\u2019re dealing with ideas that are only suggested; you\u2019re not dealing with the requirements needed for an architectural space.\u201d Floors can move, projections can be used to disorient or obscure and platforms can be stacked, rearranged or replaced with giant clouds of paper.<\/p>\n Frank Gehry\u2019s \u201cDon Giovanni\u201d set design. Photos courtesy the Los Angeles Times<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n Frank Gehry <\/b><\/p>\n In 2012, the LA Philharmonic invited three architects to design sets for three of Mozart\u2019s most popular comic operas over three successive seasons. Prominent fashion designers were paired with each architect to design the costumes for each performance, creating a star-studded cultural extravaganza. The performances highlighted their then-new celebrity conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, in the Frank Gehry\u2013designed Walt Disney Opera House. Gehry opened the series with a set for \u201cDon Giovanni\u201d with costumes by LA designers Rodarte. The design featured a movable series of blocks adrift in a sea of sculptural white and black paper puffs.<\/p>\n Jean Nouvel\u2019s set for \u201cThe Marriage of Figaro.\u201d (Left) photo courtesy Domus<\/a>. (Right) photo courtesy 10 Corso Como<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n Jean Nouvel<\/b><\/p>\n Nouvel took his turn in 2013 when he designed the sets for \u201cThe Marriage of Figaro\u201d with couturier Azzedine Ala\u00efa on costumes. The set was built around a grand central staircase and was washed in electric reds and greens. A grand armchair sat atop the stairs, and it was variously occupied by characters who cycled through positions of power throughout the show.<\/p>\n Zaha Hadid\u2019s set for \u201cCos\u00ec fan Tutte.\u201d (Left) photo courtesy the New York Times<\/a>. (Right) photo courtesy Domus<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n Zaha Hadid <\/b><\/p>\n In 2014, Hadid designed the set for \u201cCos\u00ec fan Tutte\u201d with costumes by designer Hussein Chalayan. The white whorl that sat on the stage undulated with the twists and turns of plot, rippled by internal machinery that would bend and distort the white surface. The design referenced the sandy beaches where the opera is set and the convoluted relationships that are the source of the drama and comedy of the show.<\/p>\n \u201cAttila\u201d<\/i>stage design by Herzog & de Meuron. Images courtesy Herzog & de Meuron<\/i><\/p>\n Herzog & de Meuron<\/b><\/p>\n In 2010, the Swiss duo designed sets for Verdi\u2019s opera \u201cAttila\u201d staged at New York\u2019s Metropolitan Opera. Costumes were created by fashion designer Miuccia Prada. The show, set during the downfall of the Roman Empire and the invasion by Attila the Hun, began with a stage full of broken chunks of concrete that gave way to a lush jungle in the second act, evoking the same sense of physical chaos and natural overgrowth at work in their buildings like the Perez Art Museum<\/a> or CaixaForum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Libeskind\u2019s design for \u201c<\/i>St Francis of Assisi.\u201d Images courtesy <\/i>Studio Libeskind<\/a><\/p>\n Daniel Libeskind<\/b><\/p>\n Daniel Libeskind has had a musical life. He was a young prodigy on the accordion and piano who performed at Carnegie Hall. He has said<\/a> that the unfinished Arnold Schoenberg opera \u201cMoses and Aaron\u201d inspired much of his breakthrough design, the Jewish Museum of Berlin<\/a>. In 2002, Libeskind designed a set for the Deutsche Opera\u2019s \u201cSt Francis of Assisi,\u201d a 1983 show by composer Olivier Messiaen. The set was composed of a rotating field of cubes engineered by Cecil Balmond.<\/p>\n Libeskind\u2019s design for \u201c<\/i>Intolleranza<\/i>.\u201d Images courtesy <\/i>Studio Libeskind<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n This was not his first foray into opera. He had previously designed both the set and costumes for \u201cTristan and Isolde,\u201d an opera by Richard Wagner, and the set for \u201cIntolleranza\u201d by Luigi Nono.<\/p>\n Vi\u00f1oly\u2019<\/i>s design for \u201cThe Nose.\u201d Images courtesy Rafael Vi\u00f1oly Architects<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n Rafael Vi\u00f1oly<\/b><\/p>\n Rafael Vi\u00f1oly was born into the opera. His father was a director of the National Opera in Uruguay, and he has gone on to design multiple productions, including two stages for productions at Bard College\u2019s SummerScape festival in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The first was for Shostakovich\u2019s \u201cThe Nose\u201d in 2004, which featured angular screens that opened and closed to frame the action of the Modernist opera, at one point forming a triangle subtly evocative of the work\u2019s namesake.<\/p>\n Vi\u00f1oly\u2019<\/i>s design for \u201c<\/i>Die Liebe der Danae<\/i>.\u201d Images courtesy Rafael Vi\u00f1oly Architects<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n In 2011, Vi\u00f1oly returned to Bard to design the stage for Richard Strauss\u2019 rarely performed \u201cDie Liebe der Danae,\u201d which had the stage dripping in gold for the tale of King Midas.<\/p>\n Vi\u00f1oly\u2019<\/i>s design for \u201c<\/i>The Return of Ulysses<\/i>.\u201d Images courtesy Rafael Vi\u00f1oly Architects<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n In between, he worked on the sets for the Chicago Opera Theater\u2019s 2007 production of Claudio Monteverdi\u2019s \u201cThe Return of Ulysses.\u201d This set featured a blocky staircase that the heroes and villains of the classically themed opera would ascend and conquer. At various points, characters would erupt from the inside of the stair while the stage was washed with light.<\/p>\n These transformations and spectacular effects are part of what makes opera so alluring to architects. They are the freedoms that static buildings don\u2019t allow. As Vi\u00f1oly<\/a> says: \u201cWorking on an opera is so different from the work we do as architects, which is limited by various requirements and a complex set of restrictions. Working in the theater gives you the freedom for the creation of magic. It is really quite extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n Architizer's <\/i>diverse jury of global experts<\/i><\/span><\/a> is currently reviewing submissions to<\/em> the <\/i>14th A+Awards<\/i><\/span><\/a>! Sign up to <\/i>receive updates<\/i><\/span><\/a> on Public Voting and spring winner announcements.<\/i><\/i><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Architects have been involved in set design for all kinds of performance since the time of Palladio, and opera is no exception.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"projects","architizer_featured_image":"2085578","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[29],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-2593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collections","category-inspiration","tag-play"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n<\/div>\n\n
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