bureau A builds temporary monte verità for traveling theatre

bureau A builds temporary monte verità for traveling theatre
all images © dorothée thébert & bureau A

monte verità is a hill located in ascona, in the ticino region of switzerland. here, in the dawn of the 20th century, a fantastic creative community gathered to live, striving to create a utopia and contemplating many subjects still prevalent today: environmental concern, sexual liberation, gender issues, family dissolutions, free education and ideological engagement. 

monte verità in geneva 

‘peut-on etre révolutionnaire et aimer les fleurs’ (can one be a revolutionary and love flowers?) is a theatrical play retracing the intense history monte verità, written and directed by dorothée théebert and filippo filliger. the scenography of the play takes form as a small collective of simple and function objects that support the activities and movements of the traveling group. 

a tin water drum functions as the community shower 

the temporary theatre, imagined by swiss bureau A, is architecture at its bare minimum. benches, stools, shower, partitions, canopies, bleachers, and standing lamps compose an elemental and direct aesthetic. pine wood studs and natural felt construction nods to the survival obsession of former monte verità resident josef beuys. details and assemblage of the reincarnated monte verità can be easily dismantled and stored, including a sauna, which encourages visitors and actors alike to dress down and celebrate a moment of modern utopian living. 

sauna

interior view of the sauna 

relaxing area 

woman having a shower in monte verità

the mobile structure nestled temporarily inside a courtyard

monte verità in geneva

residents of monte verità, a utopian commune built on a hill near ascona, switzerland 

model

model two 

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