The public studio for ephemeral arts: an adaptive reuse of the Winnipeg metropolitan theatre

Abstract

As a master’s practicum of interior design, this project is concerned with the role of design in shaping mass and individual identity. Cultural commodities, as components of the Culture Industry, effectively define a communal identity for the individuals. The Winnipeg Metropolitan Theatre is chosen as the site of this practicum. This Practicum is interested in defining new spatial relationships and functions. In order for these goals to be achieved, a new function has been defined. The public studio for ephemeral arts is open to the whole society for being involved in the artistic process. By using a qualitative research method, this practicum studies the theoretical aspects of modern mass identity. However being an interior design project, it heavily relies on the ideas of a selected number of theorists, mainly from the Frankfurt school, for building the theoretical foundation of the design. The new design is the result of questioning the existing space’s spatial hierarchy, the new function’s spatial requirements, and a critical approach toward the adaptive reuse of an existing building.