Master Plan Teatro Colon

On November 1st, 2006, the Teatro Colón will close its doors to the public to start the third, and last stage, of the Master Plan: the most significative of all the interventions it has undergone – the Main Hall, the Foyer, the Salòn Dorado (the Gold Salon),the Façade and the construction of a Museum and a Documentation Centre – shall be undertaken with a “closed theatre”, in order to reopen for the celebration of the centenary of the great Buenos Aires coliseum on May 25th, 2008, with most of the works completed. Meanwhile, the theatre´s activities will continue as programmed in other halls of the city.

Of the 42 works programmed in the Master Plan, 17 are being currently undertaken, 15 have been finished, and 10 are still in the project and bidding process. Amongst the completed works are the restoration of the zinc roofing, marquees and stained-glass windows, the refurbishment of the Theatre´s Coffee Shop in the “Pasaje de los Carruajes” (Passageway of Carriages), the Gift Shop, the Guided Tours Office, and the public restrooms, which can already be appreciated.

Amongst the works currently in process, one is particularly striking: the “Plaza del Vaticano” (Vatican Square), a new space in which the Teatro Colon will expand its activities to the community, thanks to a stage that shall be built on the new square to hold open-air shows during the summer.

The Teatro Colón, declared National Historical Monument in 1989, is the most relevant and significant example of cultural heritage in the City of Buenos Aires, and plays a key role in Argentina’s cultural industry, defining, promoting and projecting national identity throughout the world. It is well known for its peerless acoustic conditions, the spaciousness, capacity and beauty of its hall tambour, the artistic rank of its trajectory and its resourcefulness in the production of performances.

It was projected by Italian engineer Francesco Tamburini. His disciple, Vittorio Meano continued the work, which was concluded by a Belgian engineer and architect, Jules Dormal. The result of this cooperation was the creation of an invaluable treasure for the country.

The Teatro Colón opened on May 25th 1908, after a long period of eighteen years. During 1938 major interventions were carried out, beginning with the expansion of the basement levels under the lateral square. A tunnel connecting the workshops with the stage was also built. In a second intervention (1968-1972), developed according to Architect Mario Roberto Alvarez’ project, a second expansion was carried out, placing the production areas of the Theatre, the rehearsal rooms, the stage design workshops, offices, dressing rooms and a cafeteria for personnel under the square and Cerrito street. The different interventions acquire true relevance when their surface areas are compared (in 1908 the building had 35,400 m2, after all the expansions, it counted with 58,000 m2.).

The Master Plan
In the year 2000, the City Government created the Sub Secretary of Cultural Heritage and the General Direction of Infrastructure, with the purpose of “designing the policies and conducting City Government actions in order to promote, rescue, preserve and update the Cultural Heritage”. The Teatro Colón required a technological update, as well as a restoration that would show its true value in an urban context.
The Sub Secretary of Cultural Heritage summoned the General Direction of Infrastructure for the elaboration of a Master Plan that would comprise all of these actions.

One of the premises is to work with an “open theater”, thus reducing to a minimum the time in which it will remain closed. This condition of “open theatre” involves the bidding of partial works which are coherent and complement each other, having been conceived as one single project. A time limit of 7 years is set for the execution of the works, between 2001 and 2007. It is possible to establish that by the year 2008 the Theatre will celebrate its centenary with most of the works having drawn to a close.

By then, the Teatro Colón will count with new technology, with a new fire reservoir and pumping system and a new central air-conditioning system. The City of Buenos Aires will recover the “Plaza del Vaticano” (Vatican Square), a space specially designed to give open-air shows. Meanwhile, the facades will be clean and look healthy, and the zinc roofing will be restored. The Foyer’s Main Hall will recover its grandeur and its extraordinary natural lighting after the restoration of the stained-glass windows. The Auditorium will be, restored and updated, as well as the main stage.

The Human Resources team, in charge of the emerging actions of the Master Plan, is formed by top-level professionals with broad experience in the field -who are answerable to the General Direction of Infrastructure-, as well as authorities and technicians of the Theatre. Also working with them are specialized consultants hired by the Executor Unit of the IDB loan, as well as those provided by public welfare organizations. Permanent feedback and assistance is also provided by opera house specialists with ample international experience.
The Master Plan has already received many favorable opinions, from different institutions, directors and technicians from some of the most important theatres throughout the world.

These diagnoses include acoustic measurements in order to have a record of the values that must remain unaltered.

The total investment will be of approximately US$ 25,000,000, including private and public funding: the Treasury of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, the Inter-American Development Bank (IBD), the Fundación Teatro Colón and other private contributions are supporting the Master Plan.

The Building: The restoration began from the external surface to the inside of the building. That included the restoration of flat roofing, zinc roofing and underfloors, skylights on stained-glass windows, facades, balconies, canopies and stained-glass windows. The works also included improvements for personnel and artists: the renovation of the cafeteria and employees’ kitchen, restrooms, changing rooms and stockrooms. The “Pasaje de los Carruajes” (Passageway of Carriages), with its new coffee shop, gift shop, guided tours office and public restroom facilities were also completely restored. At present, the restoration of the Center of Experimentation Teatro Colón (CETC) is taking place. Next to the CETC, the Future Museum and Documentation Center will be built. Simultaneously, the electric, sanitary, cooling and air-conditioning, and pumping systems have been renovated.

The “Plaza del Vaticano” (Vatican Square): In the year 2001, a national competition of preliminary projects was held with the purpose of transforming this square into a space dedicated to the extension of the Theatre´s activities to the community. The First Prize was won by Architects Matias Gigli and Rodolfo Nieves.The mechanism of the competition had a high level of participation, thus allowing the best solution to be chosen from a wide range of different proposals. The winning project interpreted the program’s demands, incorporating the road and both sidewalks of Viamonte Street into the defined area, with great synthesis and design quality. An open-air stage will be built in order to allow the Teatro Colón to have open-air concerts in summer.

The stage case: The stage of the Teatro Colón is one of a kind, not only for its dimensions but also for its special characteristics, such as having one of the biggest rotating discs in the world of Opera Houses and a floor with a 3% pendant, which makes the vision of the dancers’ feet much easier and at the same time emphasizes the perspective effect from the spectator’s view. The scenotechnical renovation has the purpose of technically modernizing the stage, strictly maintaining its distinctive visual and acoustic features, in order to enable the connection between stage and stage design production workshops, thus optimizing time, number of operations and finally, the linking between the stage and the street for the process of entering and exiting the production.