The project is a revitalisation of the Politeama building, an important monument for the city of Como, Italy. When created, Politeama was one of the first ever theatres in the country built using reinforced concrete. Due to the social importance of this building, it was crucial to set the right approach to its redesign. The concept of the theatre was kept but the function of the space was changed, by turning Politeama into a community centre, hosting a broad range of activities.

The theatre hall with its stage is the heart of the Politeama building and is where the biggest focus of the transformation was. The design separates the building into a traditional and a modern part (the theatre hall and stage area respectively).

The design also separates the space by function and material use, but it retains a strong connection between the two different parts. They flow one into the other through the use of staggered arches that gradually get smaller and divide the space into three voids: the largest void forming the main theatre hall and the two mirrored voids in the stage area.

The main void of the theatre hall has an existing roof window that fills the space with light. To complement the old, another window was added in the new stage part. The resulting beams of light shine through the arches that divide the space and highlight the perspective of the shrinking space.

The project is about the revitalisation of the Politeama building, an important monument for the city of Como, Italy. When created, Politeama was one of the first ever theatres in the country built using reinforced concrete. It also held a restaurant and hotel, making it a multifunctional building not typical of its time. Later it was adapted into a movie theatre, but today unfortunately it is closed waiting for a new transformation.

Due to the social importance of this building, it was crucial to set the right approach to its redesign. We wanted to keep the concept of the theatre but change the function of the space, so we turned Politeama into a community centre, hosting a broad range of activities.

The theatre hall with its stage is the heart of the building and that’s where the biggest focus of the transformation was, while the exterior facades were mostly kept intact.  We turned the theatre hall into a library reading room with books stored in the theatre walls. For the central library space, we used wood to contrast the concrete, bring warmth and improve the new acoustics of the space. The former hotel part was turned into supporting classrooms for the library. The stage and backstage areas were transformed into the “machine” of the building, adding new floors and modern technologies to bring Politeama into the 21st century. This space incorporates a steel structure with open yet private spaces to be used for art exhibitions and art classes.

The concept of the project stems from three key points: separation, connection and light. Separation, referring to the division of the building into a traditional and a more modern part. Connection, referring to the way the two different parts flow into the other by using subsequently placed arches that gradually shrink the space. And finally light, referring to the light sources added to complement the old existing roof window of the theatre hall and to highlight the arch perspective.