Further research - more from the 1920s

Here are some online images that I found relevant to the project. To begin with, I have this image of a woman in her boudoir. I was interested in the modern style of the room - it is not the ornate and feminine style that I had imagined a traditional woman's dressing room would be. It confirms some of my ideas for the walls of my building.

The ornate design of the theatres and movie palaces of the time have had an influence on my thoughts about the site and the ornament to be applied to the theatre rooms.

This dressing room image raised thoughts about the activities in the dressing room. While this project is based around the private dressing room of an actress who is very dedicated to her role and lover, there is a lot of activity backstage that needs to be considered as part of the setting.

This film is from the period of the painting (1921) and reminds me of the actress and her lover, as the woman in the film is independent for her time (although not apparent in this image).

Further research - architectural influences

Here are some images that I have compiled for inspiration from various print sources. The list began with many images but I managed to narrow it down to these three:

The first two images are interesting due to their combinations of textures - of timber & brick and glass & timber. In my model I will be playing with texture with the relationship between drapery and concrete.


This image was interesting because of the view into the room - almost as though it were a theatre set or dollhouse. The boudoir of the actress is private because it is raised, but is open to views from the wings and the ramps because her inclusion of her lover in the back operations of the theatre is theatre in itself.

The second draft designs for the theatre

The narrative for this project is: 'A theatre for the actress to entertain her lover.' Below is the floor plan for the dressing room, the paths to the stage and the privacy of the wings.

The staircases have glass to separate the actress and her lover in terms of their roles, but they also allow awareness of each other and their journey from their personal relationship allowed in the dressing room to the performance on the stage where the two are divided into the actress and the audience. The glassed in space in the wings is a sunken area for the actress to contemplate about her character.

The elevation shows the transcendence of the lover (the fan of the actress) as he attains the privilege of watching from the wings. The separate staircase that leads down and then up again captures the transformation as the actress becomes emotionally immersed in her role. Her lover can watch this transformation from the ramp above and contemplate the change.

Below are some sketches of the exterior parts of the model. I was interested in the play between what is 'real' and what is artifice. The materials chosen to represent this involve the use of natural timber and manufactured concrete. The timber facing of the building was inspired by 1920s film and 1920s theatres where ornament was extravagant and theatrical. Glass was considered for its clarity and ability to reveal the identities of the characters. The glass would encase some of the exterior.


Finally, here are the images of the second draft model. The stage light is drawn in by the 'chinks' in the mass of the wings. The light then fades out towards the hallway and dressing room.

This view of the stage from the dressing room showing the brightness of the stage lights.

Draft model - the theatre

The draft model for the rooms relating to the narrative: 'a place for the actress to entertain her lover' has a single vertical window opens onto the first room which is the dressing room. The window symbolises awareness of the shift from reality to theatre. The light from the window illuminates the room and the act of transformation.

The dual path above represents the journey from actress to character on the one side, and the journey of her lover as he walks to the wings to watch her perform. The wings will have varying internal walls and alcoves representing the different states through which the actors, stage hands and the lover pass as they coexist behind the curtains.

This view is from the dressing room to the wings. It shows the two paths representing the different emotional shifts of the actress and her lover. It relates to the inevitable stages of transition through which the actress and her lover pass.

Preliminary parti sketches

The parti in plan demostrates the journey from dressing room to the wings. The dressing room is a place where the actress can be herself but the pathway to the wings involves transition into character, and is a narrower, more inward looking and lowered space. At the same time, there is a direct path to the stage representing the lover's simpler journey to watch from the wings, and it is also the direct link between reality and artifice - the transformation into character and the performance.

Preliminary sketches

Some early sketches explored the poché for these spaces - from a simple unadorned corridor to the textured walls of the dressing room. The dressing room is cramped but elevated, followed by a narrow lowered corridor as a transitional space leading to an open space representing the wings of the stage.

Second attempt at interpretation

The initial narrative - 'The resolute actress reached her decision to leave their meeting place and return to the freedoms of the city' did not have a specific activity from which to base a design.

I thought about the background story of the character in the painting - an actress, watching her lover leave the building. The setting of the painting, in a simple apartment, led me to the narrative 'a place for the actress to entertain her lover.' This led to the story of the actress being financially supported by her wealthy fan who provides her with gifts, money, and an apartment and who has the role as her lover. Finally, based on this story, I decided that the place that the actress would entertain her lover would be the empty theatre, a place that he had a deep respect for and the place of some of her work. The location will be a theatre in New York in the 1920s - a place which suits this actress who is confident and independent and part of an optimistic generation. Below are some historical images of theatres that are not necessarily from the 1920s but that will provide some inspiration.