Scuola di Danza
Winner of a restricted competition, the new Haifa dancing school is part of a commercial platform located at the first floor of a reinforced concrete building dating back to the '50s, at the boundary between an old arab and a Jewish quarter.
Organized on two levels, the ground floor contains the entrance and a storage room; on the first floor a lobby, administrative spaces, a small kitchen, dancing classrooms, dressing rooms, a warehouse for equipment and costumes. The three dance classrooms look out on the two open facades, while service areas are located in the two blind sides of the building.
In the classrooms the structural mesh of the exposed reinforced concrete ceiling defines a rhythm that drives the dancers in their movements. Of the three rooms, two are separated by an acoustic movable wall so as to get a single large room, visible from the lobby through a glass window. The dancers can perform on a stage, visible from their families sat in the lobby.
Ceramic tiles olive green underline the corners of circulation spaces, emphasizing the continuity and fluidity of the interiors and thus interpreting the theme of becoming and movement.
At parties or sharing moments, the lobby and meeting room - served by a small kitchen - can be used as a single, undivided environment.
All windows are bespoke made, designed using solid local wood.
