Gregory Lombardi Design
Submission 0123
The Urban Stage
A new landscape for the BCA Plaza site creates flexible spaces for artists,
in which the cultural energy within the BCA extends outside the buildings
and fuses with the urban community. Simultaneously, it is a forum within which
the city’s dwellers and visitors interact and engage in urban life.
The language for this project borrows references from the spatial organization
of the THEATER, emphasizing our mission to create an environment for these
staged and spontaneous interactions.
The iconic quality of this space is realized through the insertion of a glass
beacon, the Theater’s STAGE TOWER. This Stage Tower resides above/under
the tree canopy and marks the new corridor through the existing building to
the courtyard. The Tower acts as a layered vertical stage for sculptors to
showcase their work to the gathering public below as well as inside the gallery.
This glass volume illuminates the plaza at night.
The courtyard is the site’s BACK STAGE. It is nestled between the Bistro
and the Gallery. It is the Gallery’s outdoor extension and the Plaza’s
companion. The Back Stage allows for intimate gatherings for a cappuccino
or larger opportunities for performances and installations.
The experience of the Back Stage provides an intimacy that embraces the ephemeral
qualities of the seasons through the use of plants and water.
A roof garden atop the Stage Tower is an elevated BALCONY that provides an
extraordinary vantage point to view performances and installations, in the
courtyard below.
The front plaza along Tremont Street is conceived as one continuous space
for pedestrians to gather and move freely amidst the tree scrims. This plaza
is considered the STAGE to the Theater for it’s designated uses both
as a street performance space, and a setting for the human interactions that
create a vibrant city landscape.
