Location: Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

Project type: Competition/ Extension for the existing experimental puppet theater

Phase: SO
Architecture Office: as employee at 2by4 Architects

The design was presented as entry for the internationa competition of the EPAC – Experimental Puppetry Arts Centre at the State Puppet Theatre in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. The Experimental Puppetry Arts Centre will be an incubator for live theatre – syncretic, originally incepted, unconventional, interactive and bold. A meeting point for people of deliberate creative motivation and potential, dynamic, unique and diverse creators. The new centre will aspire to offer opportunities to contemporary artists to grow their talent and create a wholesome space for the development of theatre across the breadth of the art of puppetry.

The project aims to create a strong connection between the existing theater and a new building, utilizing a redesigned entrance that evokes the essence of a back alley. This entrance, enhanced with inviting lighting and signage, leads visitors to a central courtyard, a versatile space for gatherings, performances, and screenings. A striking glass ceiling adorned with wooden elements mimics puppetry crosses, adding theatricality through dynamic light and shadow play. The vibrant red passage to the existing foyer establishes continuity between the two buildings, enhancing their visual relationship.