rafael vinoly architects: die liebe der danae set design

‘die liebe der danae’ by rafael vinoly at bard summerscape, new york city, USA all images courtesy rafael vinoly architects image © cory weaver

internationally-renowned architect rafael vinoly has designed the set for the first fully-staged new york production of richard strass’s ‘die liebe der danae’. developed for bard summerscape, the set is the architect’s third involvement with the theatre after his involvement with shostakovich’s ‘the nose’ in 2004 (also for bard summerscape) and chicago opera theater’s 2007 production of ‘the return of ulysses’ by claudio monteverdi.

‘I have always been interested in opera. at a certain point, though, you have to make choices, some of which you come to regret! but music has remained an important part of my life in general, and I’m grateful that I have been able to find a way to use what I know about architecture to create musical spaces,’ says vinoly. ‘working on an opera is so different from the work we do as architects, which is limited by various requirements and a complex set of restrictions. working in the theater gives you the freedom for the creation of magic. it is really quite extraordinary. it’s very different from what architects do, but there are some obvious connections. I enjoy it enormously and will always find time to do it.’

‘die liebe der danae‘ will put on five performances beginning july 29 through august 7, 2011.

image © cory weaver

image © cory weaver

image © cory weaver

image © cory weaver

image © cory weaver

image © cory weaver

image © cory weaver

image © cory weaver