assemble’s ‘newcastle’ theater pavilion intersects art and electronic music

assemble studio presents ‘newcastle’ for this year’s edition of horst17, titled ‘spaces & places,’ in holsbeek, belgium. each year, on the grounds of horst castle, an artistic dialogue is created by intersecting in-situ visual arts with contemporary, electronic music. through their design, the selected artist or architect redefines and reinterprets the concept of a musical stage. this year, the london-based collective, assemble, has created a scaffold and blue netting theater pavilion in dialogue with the neighboring historic castle.

the structure stands as assemble’s response to historic horst castle’s restricted access 
all images by jeroen verrecht

in response to the historic horst castle’s entry restrictions, assemble studio has built ‘newcastle’ — borrowing the overall shape of the existing structure. the three tiered structure for horst17 utilizes a courtyard form as the theatrical space or dance floor. the structure is described as an ‘english elizabethan theater’ — ‘transforming the stage from something to look at, into something to be a part of, creating a more pronounced interaction between artist and performer.’

the structure is made up of scaffold and blue netting

the central theater space or dance floor takes up most of the pavilion’s structure

within, there are three tiers of standing balconies that look down at the open, central area

the pavilion is located in a clearing in the woods near the historic horst castle, in belgium

‘newcastle’ is equivalent to horst castle in general mass, but looks as though it is under construction

within the blue mesh walls, visitors are able to have a real festival experience

its overall appearance changes from day to night

‘horst’ is a yearly exhibition of in-situ art and architecture

assemble is a london-based collective working across the fields of art, architecture and design

the invited architect or designer is invited to redefine the concept of a musical stage

this year, for the first time, two new music stages and a permanent pavilion was presented