Morpheus Performing Arts Center in San Juan, Philippines by WTA Architecture + Design Studio

Article source: WTA Architecture + Design Studio 

Dreams are series of images, thoughts, feelings and sensations that transpire in the mind during sleep. They are smooth stories that can suddenly become rough, violent. They are storylines that unfold, break and come one after another. Strange becomes reality and senses give way to instincts. Dreams become ideas and visions are created by imagination.

Image Courtesy © WTA Architecture + Design Studio

• Architect: WTA Architecture + Design Studio
• Project: Morpheus Performing Arts Center
• Location: San Juan City, Metro Manila, Philippines
• Storeys: GF + 1 (2 storey) 14m
• Design Participation:
  • Principal Architect: William T. Ti
  • Architect in-charge: Fernando C. Cunanan Jr.
  • Engr: Sergio Paanod Martin, Engr. Farly Doria Vergel
• Site Area: 1,701.67sqm
• Building Area: 886.99sqm
• Total Floor Area: 1,702.08sqm
• Landscape Area: 645.52sqm

Image Courtesy © WTA Architecture + Design Studio

Dreams grow into goals and motivation.

Dreams are inspiration.

Similarly, the process of any art is close to what happens in a dream. Creation is not a smooth story; it is a complicated succession of discoveries and pitfalls.

As we were asked to design a performing arts center, we decided to ponder on this process and to create a building that embodies these thoughts and ideas to reflect the activities that run inside the facility.

Image Courtesy © WTA Architecture + Design Studio

Morpheus is a performing arts center located in a 1500sqm lot in San Juan, Metro Manila. The project is bordered by 3 schools, with one located on an adjacent site. With the will to open the center to the community and to reach a broader audience, we decided to use our site as an inspirational link to the hilly surroundings.

Image Courtesy © WTA Architecture + Design Studio

Like a dream full of the unexpected, Morpheus was designed first as an outdoor space where sharing with the community and impromptu performances are encouraged. Images, sensations and ideas are created inside the building and spread in the plaza through interactive installations, colorful graphics, outdoor exhibitions, events and concerts.

The ground floor represents this activity, freedom and smoothness, with a curved curtain wall that breaks through the existing structure present in our site, like a dream piercing the boundaries of the reality.

The second storey expresses the wild and unexpected changes happening in dreams, the hard work and labor of the artists practicing.

The theater is grooved with a vertical slit which lightens each time an event is taking place inside, echoing to the city the excitement within.

Overall, Morpheus is a lively representation of the complexity of dreams, expressing more than a definite form, thus becoming a metaphor.

Tags: Philippines, San Juan

Category: Art Center

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