Restoration of the Roman Theater of Clunia: Scene and Antiquarian
The restoration of the Roman Theater of Clunia has been realized in two phases: a first project, completed in 2010, in which the whole of the theater Cavea was shaped by creating an upper walkway, access stairs and different levels of the stands, and a second phase, completed in 2020, that undertakes the intervention in the Scaena and Postscaenium.
The interventions in the theater are the conclusion of a research process that began with the excavation and subsequent architectural interpretation. The creation of a multidisciplinary team from the beginning of the work has initiated a continuity that goes from the reconstruction of the past architecture to the reconfiguration of its space in order to protect it, make it understandable and provide it, once again, with the use for which it was conceived.
The reconstruction of the original theater from the remains becomes a real architectural exercise, where the absence becomes the engine that allows us to understand the existing remains from the composition of the missing elements.
In March 2020, the works related to the intervention on the whole of the Scaena of the theater have been completed, thus closing a recovery process that allows to understand the missing architecture through the restoration of the remains of the Scaena and the incorporation of copies of part of the columns that formed it.
These columns have been rebuilt from the fragments found in the previous archaeological excavations and allow us to understand the configuration of the Scaenae frons of the theater, and they constitute as well an excellent background for cultural plays and shows that are usually performed in the theater. The planking that configured the floor of the theater’s Pulpitum has been incorporated for this purpose, by a reversible installation, that supports the reading of the entire theater and safely allows the evolution of the actors in the possible representations.
A wooden walkway behind the Scaena wall reconstructs the plan of the Postscaenium and allows the circulation of actors for the entrance to the stage through the Valvas Regia and Hospitalis. Underneath it and in order to protect the substructures of the Postscaenium and to create an Antiquarium, a semi-buried pavilion has been built to complete the entirety of the building, forming a complete architecture based on the pre-existing elements together with the new additions.
A series of light boxes in the roof permit the illumination of the lower space, called Hipopostscaenium, located where the skylights that illuminated the original space are documented and creating in this exact point a line that draws the closure of the theater, arousing a relationship between the monument and the landscape.
The scenic building of the old theater is re-shaped, incorporating a contemporary architectural language, that makes possible the realization of summer festivals and gives a new function to the residual covered space, where the remains of the Scaenae decoration are exposed and where the dressing room for eventual performances take place.
