Site Analysis

The task for this week was to work on the site analysis. Rather than doing this in small groups and all presenting the same thing, we did it as a studio group so we were split into small groups and given a different part of the analysis to work on. We would then present this and be able to share and use whatever analysis interested us.

My group's task was to look at Typology. This meant we were looking at theatres and similar buildings to help us understand how the public space works. While other group members looked at the theatre layout and other theatre layouts and public buildings, I opted to look at the evolution of the theatre from the Ancient Greeks to the Romans to the Globe Theatre in London. Looking at history of buildings fascinates me so reading up about how the first theatre came about in Athens was really interesting and I was then able to compare them all and see exactly why the theatre has developed the way it has. I was able to find lots of books about the Greek and Roman theatre and from them I could draw up plans and could see how even the modern day theatre holds similarities to the originals. 

We were also tasked with each coming up with three urban artefacts from around the site and what we would do with them. The columns on the original facade of the Hippodrome caught my eye - as I mentioned in my previous entry. I would really like to do something with these as the are not only an interesting feature of the site but also link back into classical theatre - looking at theatres like the Opera House in Manchester etc.