Casas Ibáñez theatre, Albacete

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site plan | longitudinal section
ground floor plan

Casas Ibáñez theatre, Albacete

The most valuable elements on the plot are the two formidable pine trees found there. Thus, importance is placed on rescuing the space beneath their branches which has been used for years as a place for celebration and dancing by the citizens of Casas Ibáñez. The theater is built around this shaded space, neither entirely an exterior nor an interior space, empty and open. Here, one can find all the access points to merchandise, management, and rehearsal rooms, as well as the public access point.

The theater does not open to the wider space, the street of la Cañada, it uses a certain architectural tradition of La Mancha, it “hides” its access. Nevertheless, it does not conceal its public character; from the street of la Cañada, the high and crooked canvases of the theater provide it with a vibrant plasticity under the sun that identifies it as a public building.

The diversity of uses of the building is compatible with its compact body. The theater can be segregated for a night concert, for a small administration office with morning shifts or for the evening activities of the rehearsal rooms. The orchestra seating of the theater can be divided by a thick curtain to meet the needs of events with smaller audiences and one of the rehearsal rooms can occasionally be transformed into a small public auditorium, without interfering in the inner circulations of the building.

Big holes pointing at specific places establish a certain empathy with the landscape of La Mancha, arid and open, in an anodyne place with no urban value in the central area of Casas Ibáñez.

Location Casas Ibáñez, Albacete
Client GICAMAN, s.l. / Comunidad Castilla La Mancha / Ayuntamiento Casas Ibáñez
Architects Francisco Burgos, Ginés Garrido
Design team Agustín Martín, Javier Malo, María José Arquero, Carlos Carnicer, Almudena Carro, Victoria Mateos, Emilio Ontiveros, Pilar Recio, Rafael Ureña
Constructor Dragados
Structure Juan Carlos Salvá
Technical facilities CARMA Ingenieros
theatre facilities CHEMTROL División teatros
Technical architect José Santiago
National Competition First Prize
Completion date 2011