Stage, Dnipro, UA

Stage is a seasonal, multi-purpose park pavilion, built in Dnipro (Ukraine). It was constructed in place of the former green theatre in Shevchenko Park, one of the city’s principal public spaces. Stage was collectively designed, crowdsourced and crowdfunded by the citizens of Dnipro. Its architectural form reflects the collaborative character of the process. Stage’s slim volume closes the visual axis running between Potemkin’s palace and the Dnieper. The long façade encloses the amphitheatrical geometry of the site, creating a cozy interior with good acoustics. The building refers to history with criticism. Hierarchy, inherent to the propaganda theatre of the thirties, has been replaced by horizontality. The location of the entrance blurs the borders between performers and audience. Potemkin’s geometrical gardens, as well as Stalin’s gargantuan theatre, were superimposed on the city from the top-down. Stage represents the opposite extreme: it is a radical grassroots intervention. The structure consists of a big screen, a storage space and a lounge, which overlooks the Dnieper. On top of it there is an acoustic tube – an amplifier of any music used by the performers. The building components of the new structure were prefabricated and assembled on-site from wood and plywood. Architecture is supplemented with greenery, a gift from the city’s botanical garden. Stage was created entirely by the use of online methods of distributed work and funding. Over 200 people were engaged in different stages of its creation: contributing financially, designing and assembling the building components. This approach is unique: architectural practice today is dominated by top-down methods of work. As a result of this original process, the makers of Stage became deeply integrated with the building. In the summer of 2017, the newly-created community organised over 60 grassroots events. Next spring, they raised money again on their own initiative to extend Stage and organise further events.

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Initiated by: Kuba Snopek, Kateryna Rusetska, Andrii Palash Directed by: Kuba Snopek Produced by: Andrii Palash Leading architect: Tomasz Świetlik Communication: Kateryna Rusetska Event coordinator: Olga Samoylenko Media production: Kateryna Kozlova Volunteer coordination: Mariia Yarchuk  Collectively designed by: Tomasz Świetlik (leading architect) Jens Pedersen (computation) Kamil Szołtysek (program) Riccardo Mariano (geometry) Katarzyna Dorda (landscape) Anastasiia Tymchenko (context) Denys Meshcheriakov (landscape) Evhen Borysenko (supervision) Mykyta Momot (3D) Evhen Obraztsov Anastasiia Omelich Anastasiia Ponomarenko (2D) Viktoriia Ivanova Tetiana Kovtun Vlad Fomichev  Consulting: Ira Lobanovskaya (strategy), Polina Chebotareva Between Architecture & People (psychology), Dmytrо Taraba (construction and production), Dmytrо Kirpa (construction and production) Research: Monika Pietrosian, Petro Vladimirov, Kasia Pabich, Anastasiia Skvarniuk, Maja Balwierz, Artem Ilyschenko  Crowdfunding: Kateryna Rusetska, Andrii Palash, Kuba Snopek Main construction team: Tomasz Świetlik, Evhen Borysenko, HIP Park, Oleksii Drubych, Dmytro Driaiev, Valerii Boiko, Vlad Radionov, Mykola Foshchii, Kostiantyn Podobyed Construction support: Hanna Zayikina, Ivan Maslennikov, Oleksandra Bilyayeva, Violetta Kim, Oleksandra Lukjanenko, Nadiia Koval, Oleksii Envald, Yurii Fomenko, Vlad Lemm, Valerii Kasyanenko, Kseniya Foshchii, Mitya Churikov, Mariia Dukarecz, Tymur Niyazov, Oleksandr Kotsiuruba, Yevhen Ragulin, Kostiantyn Cholovskyi, Dmytro Reshetov, Steph Franck, Thomas Dumke, Yevheniia Klunko, Yuri Birte Anderson, Yevheniia Morozova, Hanna Volodina, Viacheslav Koliesnikov, Reveka Ryzhykova, Kyrylo Kholopkin, Dasha Mashukova, Illia Reshetov, Viacheslav Ivankov, Viktoriia Rudiuk, Andrii Khomutov, Yuliya Ovcharenko, Bogdan Moovin, Evgen Goncharov, Stanislav Pivonos, Georgiy Apahov, Yulia Apahova, Larisa Shevchenko, Mariia Vynarska Backers: IAn Pèninșolar, Egor Zed, Volodymyr Lesnikov, A.Burtsev, Robert Lucyshyn, Kateryna Iliushenko, Anton Borzov, Viktoriia Semeshko, Iryna Lobanovska, Sergii Budnitsky, Anton Kharytonov, Anna Stetsenko, Olexandr Pochytalin, Pasha Tkachenko, Alex Polyakov, Sergii Aldosev, Dmytro Svetlichny, Dmytro Zhmurko, Veronika Demedetska, Yurii Artiukhov, Anna Markova, Denys Shcherbakov, Roman Tomilin, franktc, Rodion Sorokin, Teodor Mytsyk, Anton Vodopolov, Volynskyi Bohdan, Matthew Pearson Steel, Svitlana Volovych, Nataliia Kashirina, Mariia Uchitel, Alla & Dmitri, Mariia Lesnikova, Slava Kolesnikov, Viktoriia Nikitina, Yuriy Tymchuk, Andrey Korlyuk, Dmytro Inytskyi, Anton Piven, Michael Gendin, Dmytro Driaiev, Manuel Tanner, Harchenko Svitlana, Nataliia Tkachenko, Olena Chertilina, Anna Rudkevych, Mariia Dukarets, Anna Golubchenko, Olga Zelenska, Dmytro Zhmurko, Liza Temchenko, Family Bobko, Peter Rudenko, Alexey Tretiak, Dariia Gryshchenko, Oleksandr Kovtiukh, Artem Shyshkin, Kate Rohoza, Aleksandra Stolyar, Michael Obrizkiv, Kateryna Zemliankina, Vitalii Mashkara, Marek Ozyhar, Denys Meshcheriakov, Yevhen Hrinko, Oksana Mamchenkova, Savranskiy Dmytro, Volodymyr Stepanov, Oleksandr Omelnytskyi, Julia Gulitska, Andrii Pushkarov, Mariia Vynarska, Kate Velcheva, Puzko Vladyslava, Artem Shyshkin, Pereverziev Oleksii, Yurii Bulichev, Dariia Gryshchenko, Buffy Summers, Viacheslav Dosuzhiy, Konstantin Perets, Malovanyi Oleksandr, George Semikoff, Titus Kovalenko, Serdiuk Viacheslav, Mariia Biloshenko, Alexander Kotsuruba, Ihor Turlion, Viktoriia Ivanova, Klimova Inna, Cheshirskyi Kit, Khramtsovskyi Vitalii, Yevhen Hendin, Yevhen Borysenko, Dariia Senchykhina, Nicholas Moore, Sao Chan Cheong, Maja Plocienniczak, Yehor Tokmakov, Olga_K, Alexander Kotsuruba, Anton Borodulin, Anna Kosenko, Valentyna Kliuiko, Mariia Khomenko, Diana Suldina, Valentyna Kozlova, Andrii Ignat, Michael Gendin, Svitlana Kolodii, Roman Ustenko, Maryna Zhydkykh, Mykola Serdiuk, Evhen Tymoshenko, Alex Amyotov, Kirill Ulman, Lyu Zyuman, Julia Priimak, Anastasia Avramchuk, Anton Borodulin, Oleg Semikolenov, Niiazov Tymur, Oleksandr Siambanis, kier f miner, Oleksandr Ivliev, Iryna Yermakova  Design: Tetiana Kovtun, Danil Daneliuk Photos: Sasha Burlaka, Vlad Lemm, Mariia Vynarska Video production: Lera Malchenko, Oleksandr Hants Collaboration: NGO Kultura Medialna, Capital of Culture, Work.ua, ask.fm, comfy, HIP Park, Greenwood, Just Club, Sayvo, Comfy, HIP Park