Project Description

(the) HEAT PLAGUE acknowledges the notion that global temperatures are approaching inhabitable levels where heat thresholds of 1.5 degrees will launch catastrophic climate events in vulnerable climate zones. The illusion of global warming as an inconsequential existential threat as the planet has heated and cooled throughout history is represented in the act of theater. In the theater, the intentions of its players fixate upon a curated interpretation – perhaps through the believability of reproduced stories and experiences, perhaps through subversive deception – but those that visit always seek refuge behind a fortified boundary of persuasion that it leaves behind. Reminiscent of the fictitious and crafted performances theater visitors come to witness, the façade and interiors of the project employ techniques of curved, tubed, and warped glass positioned in a layered assemblage to create nuanced experiences of illusion, disorientation, and – in the right lighting – a surreal iridescence. The glass assemblage challenges the notion of warming of it relates to interior thermal comfort in a typology that is traditionally a black box. The visible transparency acts to place the audience on stage in confronting the heat both mitigated (and generated) by the built environment.