The Oikos Project: A Theatre Built From Junk

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 172 months ago

Last Updated 17 August 2010

The Oikos Project: A Theatre Built From Junk
18499_oikos_front.jpg
The inside of the theatre
The inside of the theatre
18499_oikos_int2.jpg
The Jellyfish Theatre takes shape
The Jellyfish Theatre takes shape
Palettes waiting to be used
Palettes waiting to be used
18499_oikos_side.jpg
Architect Martin Kaltwasser shows us one he made earlier
Architect Martin Kaltwasser shows us one he made earlier
18499_oikos_front.jpg
The inside of the theatre
The inside of the theatre
18499_oikos_int2.jpg
The Jellyfish Theatre takes shape
The Jellyfish Theatre takes shape
Palettes waiting to be used
Palettes waiting to be used
18499_oikos_side.jpg
Architect Martin Kaltwasser shows us one he made earlier
Architect Martin Kaltwasser shows us one he made earlier

A theatre hand-built entirely from salvaged material is being constructed in an abandoned playground in Southwark.

The 120-seat Jellyfish Theatre will be the venue for the Oikos Project, which aims to "explore how a new sustainable society can flourish in a world altered by climate change". To that end, two new plays have been commissioned and will be performed this autumn: Simon Wu's OIKOS and Kay Adshead's Protozoa.

The idea for the project came from Topher Campbell of The Red Room, and work to build the theatre began during the London Festival of Architecture earlier this summer. Constructed from scraps begged and borrowed from building sites, struck theatrical sets, and fruit 'n veg palettes taken from New Covent Garden Market, the theatre has taken shape slowly over the past eight weeks, with the build completed by volunteers guided by German husband-and-wife architects Martin Kaltwasser and Folke Köbberling in a vaguely improvisational manner.

It will be used to host talks and workshops before the plays begin, and the whole thing will be taken down by mid-October, leaving little in its trace. Cedric Price would have been proud.

The Jellyfish Theatre, Marlborough Playground, 11 - 25 Union Street, London SE1 1LB. For more information visit the Oikos Project website.