rePublic Performance Theatre

Downtown Winnipeg is a city district characterized by commercial developments juxtaposed with several heritage buildings and residential infrastructure inhabited by a diverse, multicultural population. In recent years, the public life of this urban area has slowly begun to decay, evident in the deteriorating social interaction among members of the public. Although initially catalyzed by the absence of adequate public infrastructure that fosters communal interaction, this decline of social life in the city intensified following the Covid-19 Pandemic. As city life gradually returns to normal, the notion of ‘play-placing’ attempts to provide a design intervention to rejuvenate and revitalize the urban fabric. The proposed social infrastructure attempts to achieve that by interrupting the daily routine of the public realm and its static configuration with activated sites of play that encourage community members to participate in spontaneous activities and interact with each other and the city.

The uncertainty surrounding the future of Portage Mall creates the need for a new theatre facility to accommodate the Prairie Theatre Exchange, currently situated within the mall. This proposal introduces additional facilities that accomodate performance art including a community theatre and a Proscenium theatre, arranged linearly as a response to the narrow dimensions of the existing site. Through utilizing urban and architectural strategies, the design attempts to connect the professional performance community with its host community, thereby catalyzing the development of a new form of communal art, as well as the rejuvenation and revitalization of the city.