DEE AND CHARLES WYLY THEATER
The Wyly Theatre is located within the Dallas Art District. The Dallas Arts District is a unique, 68-acre, 19-block neighborhood in the city center, the centerpiece of the region's cultural life. The district houses innovative architecture, world-class exhibits, exemplary cultural programming, restaurants, hotels, churches and residences.
DALLAS CITY
Dallas is a city in the U.S. state of Texas with a population of 1.3m as the ninth most populous city. The city has a population from a myriad of ethnic and religious backgrounds making it the fifth most diverse city in the U.S. Dallas city was initially developed due to the construction of major railroad lines to transport cotton, cattle, and later oil in Texas. Later, the Interstate Highway System reinforced Dallas's prominence as a transportation hub. Dallas then developed as a strong industrial and financial center and a major inland port.
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SPONTANEOUS MODERNISM
Due to the city’s strategic location in Texas as a transportation hub, Dallas has gone through rapid development.
Massive mirror-glazed skyscraper is the theme of the city where the architect himself considered it “generic”. Knowing the Wyly Theatre might be upstaged by the surrounding landmarks. The architect designed the building into a mini-skyscraper that blends into the city skyline
DESIGN CONCEPT
"I hate the traditional theater profile of the door, auditorium, back of house, and front of house. Instead, we chose to pile the front-of-house and back-of-house functions on top of and below the auditorium, making for a smaller footprint overall.”
—REM KOOLHAAS
FOCAL POINT
Wyly Theatre piles up vertically with ramp leading visitors down to main lolbby. This has strengthened the building’s presence and the front of building has become a focal point which is beneficial to promoting community activities.
TRANSPARENCY
The architect designed interior spaces as a puzzle-like assembly of interlocking spaces in various sizes, shapes, and heights. The interior spaces advocate “transparency” in which the rooms are visible to one another, so that occupants are always aware of other activities in
the building.
FLEXIBLE THEATER MACHINE
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The art directors constantly reconfigured the form of the stage to fit
their artistic visions. The has became a financial burden and eventually
DTC permanently fixed its stage into a ‘thrust-cenium’
The new theatre machine is made up of many moving parts: floor lifts,
3x “superfly” balcony seat towers, giving the auditorium 575 seats in
total. The balcony towers are vertically retractable, they fly out from
above and create a flat floor along with the proscenium wall.
OPENNESS
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The architect wanted avoid the sense of imprisonment that he feels inside a theatre, while preserving the space’s intimacy.The “vertical theatre” concept liberated the performance chamber’s entire perimeter, allowing ground floor auditorium to incorporate with the Dallas skyline and streetscape. Massive glass wall (pivot door) allow the action in the theatre to spill out into the surrounding area. Mechanized blackout blinds can be lowered down when needed.
VISTAS
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The building consists several large openings which allows occupants to appreciate Dallas city view at anytime of the day.
STRUCTURAL
EXPRESSION
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The architect design the building into a mini-skyscraper that blends into the city skyline. In contrast to the building rigid cubical form, the architect exposed the the building structures as a fun factor and to enhance overall dynamism.
