Name: Building a theater that remakes itself
Uploaded: 2010-01-26T08:47:00Z
Duration: 18 min 25 s
Description: Can architects re-engineer their design process? Joshua Prince-Ramus shows how the results can be spectacular. He walks us through his fantastic re-creation of the Wyly Theater as a giant "theatrical machine" that reconfigures itself at the touch of a button.

Can architects re-engineer their design process? Joshua Prince-Ramus shows how the results can be spectacular. He walks us through his fantastic re-creation of the Wyly Theater as a giant "theatrical machine" that reconfigures itself at the touch of a button.

Building a theater that remakes itself

Design has become too focused on representation and has lost its ability to shape the world directly. By splitting creative vision from practical execution, architecture surrendered power and agency, becoming decorative rather than transformative. The Wyly Theatre, designed to shift at the touch of a button, shows what happens when architects and clients embrace uncertainty and collaborate from shared principles. Building flexible, performance-driven spaces demands reclaiming responsibility for both process and outcome.