1.0 ATTENDANCE
1.1 This meeting was held on-line via Zoom.
1.2 The following participated in the video conference meeting via ‘Zoom’:
OISTAT Head Quarters:
Yi Shan Lai Taiwan
Members and Guests:
Janne Auvinen Finland
Greg Cook USA
Tim Foster UK (vice-chair)
Robert Hamilton Canada
Ivo Kersmaekers Netherlands
Pu Lin Taiwan
Kevin Macpherson USA
Peter McKinnon Canada
Torsten Nobling Sweden (vice-chair)
Markus Reisinger Austria
Mhora Samuel UK
Brad Ward USA, chair Sound Design
Maaike Westinga Netherlands (chair)
Selma Goker Wilson USA
Apologies:
Peter Ruthven Hall UK (vice-chair)
Louis Janssen Netherlands
Jeong-Sik Yoo Individual-Korea (vice-chair)
1.0 Introduction
Maaike introduced the meeting and the topics for discussion.
The meeting welcomed Brad Ward who is chair of the Sound Design Group and his colleague Kevin Macpherson, theatre production manager, architect, now theatre design consultant with Apeiro Design, updating US code, and consultant on La Perle, Dubai.
Maaike has previously shared a photo report of the successful Bucharest meeting in October which included visits of the city and city theatres, Peles Castle, a range or presentations, and social events with the Costume Group and local designers at the Scenography biennale exhibition. Thanks were given to Nic Ularu and his colleagues at the Romanian OISTAT Centre for making this meeting possible.
2.0 OISTAT Executive
Please note the following actions are important for your continued participation in the Architecture Commission:
• Commission Members
All members are requested individually to fill in the membership survey form.
• Basecamp
Commissions use software ‘Basecamp’ as a platform to share information with each other. Only members have access to Basecamp. Maaike and Selma are going to set up Basecamp for the Architecture Commission.
• History Architecture Commission
AC has been asked to write a short history about the Architecture Commission. Long standing member and past chair, Tim Foster will begin the process and others can then contribute.
• 2025 Elections
Election of AC chair will take place during our September on-line Meeting.
Maaike is willing to stand for a second term as chair.
Wanjung (Taiwan Headquarters) suggested the election should happen at Sharjah with a hybrid meeting. Maaike finds hybrid meetings difficult to manage not least that the live participants are already representative of constituencies and on-line participants do not require the same representation. The meeting agreed to push to hold the election at the September meeting. (this is confirmed by headquarters on 16-12-2024, red.)
To be able to hand-over to a future chair a period of handover is thought to be desirable. A member contributing as a vice-chair would be in a good position to take up the role of chair. If you are interested, please put yourself forward as a vice-chair.
A parallel discussion also reviewed how many terms a member could stand in any role within OISTAT. The maximum of three terms will be changed to four terms in the statutes. This proposal is on the agenda for the meeting in Sharjah.
3.0 Update WSD (World Stage Design) and TAC (Theatre Architecture Competition) in Sharjah 2025
• Update on TAC
Submissions are expected in the period 19 Dec 2024 – 14 April 2025
• Maaike confirmed the selection of Jury: Maaike (non-voting chair), Mouna ElMousfy (UAE), Shusaku Futamura (Japan), Selma Goker Wilson (USA), Greg Park (South Korea), Peter Ruthven Hall (UK). Jurors are being offered flight and accommodation during WSD.
The jury will review submissions online via a portal in May/June 2025.
• Exhibition space will be on the site in the old house. There’s space for 20 entries, panels and monitors for videos will be provided. The top three of the entries will be exposed together with 3D-printed models.
• Scenofest
Maaike has proposed an interdisciplinary workshop like the one organized in Prague 2023, together with Torsten and Tim.
AC still needs to propose a person to give a provocative introduction, like Dorita Hannah did in Prague (Theatre has left the building). The theme for World Stage Design is ‘Tomorrow’s Heritage.’ Any ideas are more than welcome.
• WSD Exhibition
Organiser Jacqui has asked for suggestions for a keynote speaker.
• Architecture Tour
Will be discussed in January.
4.0 Finding new AC members
Please continue to spread the word and invite colleagues and other interested individuals to participate in the online meetings and AC activities. Proposed theatre visits should be polular with a wider community.
5.0 Future Meetings and Activities
The Architecture Commission needs to make plans for future activities and meetings. AC aims to meet at least once a year to provide an opportunity for anyone with an interest in theatre buildings to meet, to visit theatre buildings and to hold meetings and seminars with local practitioners. Besides that, a few digital meetings each year will be added to the program.
5.1 On-line Meetings throughout 2025
Friday 7 March 2025 15.00-17.00 Central European Time
Friday 20 June 2025 15.00-17.00 Central European Time
Friday 19 September 2025 15.00-17.00 Central European Time – online voting for commission chair (Maaike is willing to stand for a second term).
Friday 12 December 2025 15.00-17.00 Central European Time
5.2 In person Meetings and Tours
• 18-25 October 2025 Sharjah, Dubai
WSD 2025 and TAC 2025 will be held at Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA), United Arab Emirates.
Interdisciplinary Workshop
Theatre Architecture Tour
Architecture Commission Business Meeting
Maaike is talking with WSD team about the Architecture Tour. There’s a lot of interesting things to visit. Update to follow.
• Manchester/Liverpool, UK
Outline plan: arrive Thursday, depart Sunday late in June or early July 2025 in north of England where there are some interesting new and older projects to see. This visit would be backed by the ABTT (UK Centre), but travel and accommodation would need to be funded individually.
Manchester: Royal Exchange, Home, Lowry Aviva Studios
Liverpool: Everyman, Olympia, and possibly Shakespeare North nearby.
Proposal will be formalised in January for an expression of interest.
• 2026 Greek and Classical Antique Theatres in Turkey
Tim and Selma want to organize a tour in Turkey. Best time is probably late September (for Aspendos Festival) or October (2nd half) because of the weather conditions.
Selma presented a potential route which could include ancient theatres in Ephesus, Priene, (Pamukkale) Hierapolis, Phaselis, Perge and Aspendos from the west coast to the south coast of Turkey. Arrive Izmir airport (Wednesday) and depart Antalya airport (Sunday), potentially planned via Istanbul. Potential performances at Izmir Opera (Wednesday) and Aspendos (festival, if the dates work). Participants would fund their own travel to and from Turkey with a charge made for guide, coach, hotels and entry tickets.
This visit was extremely popular with those attending. A call for interest will go out next year.
• 2027 Finland
Janne hopes to offer a meeting in Finland.
• 2028 Dutch Tour
There’s still a Dutch Tour that never happened. Maaike would like to reorganize this.
Suggestions to increase participation are always welcomed so please assist by raising the profile of the AC in your own country. AC activities are open to anyone with an interest in theatre buildings.
Presentation of work is to be encouraged and should become a more prominent feature of on-line meetings. Please consider this in anticipation of when we next meet.
Notes compiled by Maaike Westinga with Peter Ruthven Hall (from the recording).
For questions, suggestions or to schedule a presentation:
ruthvenh@gmail.com / maaike@tenbraswestinga.nl
