Theaters: The Latest Architecture and News

Between 2005 and 2021, French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre developed a long-term project titled Theaters. Recently exhibited at KYOTOGRAPHIE 2026, the work documents a phenomenon that continues to unfold gradually around the world: the decline of infrastructure originally designed for public entertainment in the early twentieth century. Theaters, cinemas, and performance venues that once accompanied the modernization of cities are increasingly being abandoned, repurposed, or "left suspended as hybrid ruins." This process is often associated with the growing individualization of cultural consumption, from the widespread adoption of television to the rise of the streaming industry, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cultural institutions. Below are three cases located in England, Chile, and Japan that illustrate different stages in this transformation, while also highlighting community-led efforts to preserve modern cultural heritage.

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Theaters, concert halls, and opera houses are more than just venues — they are meticulously orchestrated environments where architecture, technology, and human emotion converge. Unlike conventional buildings, these spaces must accommodate a dynamic interplay between acoustics, sightlines, stage mechanics, and audience engagement, all while maintaining an architectural identity that resonates with performers and spectators alike. Whether it is the immersive embrace of a vineyard-style concert hall or the grandeur of a proscenium theater, every design decision shapes how performances are experienced and remembered.

The recently published SET PIECES: Architecture for the Performing Arts in Fifteen Fragments by Diamond Schmitt Architects explores these complexities through case studies and reflections. Inspired by its insights, this article examines essential design considerations for performance spaces, from acoustic engineering to the evolving role of theaters in urban life.

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In Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas vividly discusses the Downtown Athletic Club, a striking example of how an unassuming building exterior can conceal a vibrant mix of distinct, self-contained programs. Inside the uniform facade of this skyscraper, a private athletic club hosts an eclectic range of facilities—boxing gyms next to oyster bars and interior golf ranges below swimming pools—all segregated yet highly accessible. The Downtown Athletic Club epitomized the dynamism of New York's skyscrapers at the time, showcasing the thrill of capitalism through a selective, inward-focused world of leisure and privilege for the selected. This "machine of programs" operated independently of the external city as an isolated ecosystem within its walls. Yet, one might ask: could a similar model, designed for public use, create a more inclusive, lively community and neighborhood experience? This will activate the building within, instead of only serving the selected elites, and influence and transform the urban fabric and shapes around the building. In Hong Kong, a distant parallel can be drawn with the Municipal Services Buildings (MSBs)—publicly-funded structures that serve the community by integrating diverse functions within a singular vast building mass, much like the Downtown Athletic Club.

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Design practice RIOS worked together with historic preservation firm Page & Turnbull to restore and renovate the historic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. As an iconic element of Griffith Park, the 5,900-seat outdoor music venue was built 90 years ago into the base of a canyon. Phases 1 and 2 included the removal of alterations to the site that obscured the historic character, as well as complete restorations of the iconic entry gates.

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