Designed for Igor (cofounder of the Cirque Aligre and the Théâtre Zingaro) and his wife, Lily, this project in 1990 brought to life the Théâtre Dromesko. A light and rustic construction, La Volière was transformed throughout. A nomadic and hybrid object, it seemed to have roots in Africa as well as the far reaches of Europe and Asia. As with all the theatres built by Bouchain, it is built bearing in mind the “dimension” of the mythical universe of the troupe that inhabits it. ‘The opposite of a multipurpose, adjustable stage, La Volière is a theatrical space in which only one universe has its place: Igor and Lily’s’ (C. Catsaros). Although modest in size, this makes it one of the architect’s most poetic constructions. ‘One of the constraints was the need to be able to accommodate several dozen birds beneath the marquee. Igor wanted to create a place that was so unusual that the moment someone entered, he would have the impression that he was outside, at one with the sky and the stars above. He wanted nature to be present but artificial’ (P. Bouchain). The tree in the centre is entirely made of plastic and the top branch that crosses the marquee to offer the town’s birds a perch, letting them join La Volière’s “artist birds”. Thus the illusionist facility designed by Igor and Patrick Bouchain works ‘marvellously’, giving life to one of the most ancient dreams that both children and engineers share: that of flight. After travelling throughout Europe for several years, the architect carried out other stage facilities for Dromesko (in particular ‘la Baraque’), which are brought together today on the camp at the Ferme du Haut-Bois near to Rennes, where the company settled in 1998 and where P. Bouchain built a primary school in 2007.
