Modern Architecture in Theatre : The Experiments of Art et Action

If the city is the theatre of urban life, how does architecture act in its many performances? This book reconstructs the spatial experiments of Art et Action, a theatre troupe active in 1920s Paris, and how their designs for theater buildings show how the performance spaces interacted with actors and spectators according to their type.

If the city is the theatre of urban life, how does architecture act in its many performances? This interdisciplinary book reconstructs the spatial experiments of Art et action, a theatre troupe active in 1920s Paris, that defined five distinct types of modern performance, types which mirror social institutions and events. The analysis focuses on Art et Action''s designs for theatre buildings to show how the performance spaces interacted with actors and spectators according to their respective type, thus commenting on the characteristic events of urban life. For scholars of theatre, the study demonstrates the interdependence of spatial design and drama at a crucial moment in the history of contemporary performance. For architects, the work offers a model in theatre for how architecture might act in the daily drama of urban life, supporting current efforts to make our cities more vital and thus more sustainable.