THEATRE POPULAIRE IDEA(L) - National theatre, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Project idea

The main idea for this project is to create and design a new space for the open air theatre and to make this place a new meeting point for the people of Ouagadougou, where the theatre itself can revive and be a cultural and modern center of the city. Our main goal is to be able to create new, modern space with a hint of that traditional culture that we incorporated throughout the site. This was our jump start for the design of the LABO, SHOW and WORK area.

Project description

The WORK area is redesigned and adapted for the needs of the stage and the theatre itself It is expanded so now there is space for all the stage props, workshops and meeting rooms. The stage is 19m by 15m, and the backstage is for 20 performers. This area also includes the repair and sewing workshop, meeting room, small kitchenette, toilets, storage room and technical cabin room.

Throughout the site, we inserted three pavillions, which look alike the traditional african houses, for refreshments, food and souvenirs. The paths that connect all these areas are tiles with monochromatic design which is traditional in Burkina Faso.

We created a new LABO area which includes all necessary spaces for the needs of this theatre. There are four classrooms for dancing and rehearsing. The modular media room is in the center of this building and it can be rearranged according to the requirements of the people who work here. Also on the first floor are the photo, video and music studios with archives. The LABO area itself forms a small square which can be used also for rehearsing and socialising.

Technical information

The materials that we used in our design is steel as a structural component and bricks which are economic and traditional. The number of the tiles for the paths are 54 in total. The WORK area is 770 square meters and the LABO area is 997 square meters. By incorporating the paths and the pavillions, we bring the traditional culture into a space where the culture plays a great part in everyday life of the people in Burkina Faso.