The Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA

The tension between purely architectonic concerns and social ones is expressed in the design of this flexible, state-of-the-art public theater for the presentation of drama, dance, film and experimental works.

The theater is conceived as a sculptural, dynamic object in space, where no single perspective is privileged, and theatergoers engage volumes and spaces in multiple and distinct ways. The design celebrates essential volumes, manipulating visual attention through a 360-degree sequence and activating the immediate context.

The stage house and audience chamber, locked together by the proscenium, form the central theme of the design; each additional program element is defined as a distinct form to be assembled additively.

The design blurs the distinction between audience and performers: a second-story balcony doubles as a lounge for patrons and a performance stage facing the esplanade; visible from the street, the upper lobby is revealed as a public stage; and the audience chamber can merge with the stage, or the proscenium can remain intact and the building used as a traditional theater.

The building is a vital player in the arts district, providing a venue for myriad arts groups and adapted for uses unimagined upon its completion, including the launch of numerous Apple products.