Dessin réalisé en collaboration avec Jean Harari
‘I wanted a building that had no history but that was a history unto itself… for people not to know whether it was church, a market, a farm or a grange… it can be all of those at once.’ (P. Bouchain) Built in 1988 to accommodate the Bartabas’ equestrian shows, the Théatre Zingaro was built on empty land near the Fort d’Aubervilliers. It was whilst he was defending the idea, in front of the Mayor, Jack Ralite, and the Prefect, of not constructing a building but a temporary, collapsible “show setting” with no foundations, that Patrick Bouchain, in association with à Jean Harari, got the building permit. It brought together two functions – a circular show venue and some stables –, the building reconnected with an age-old practice: that of theatres being built out of wood. Above and beyond its construction qualities, the wood here also holds a symbolic role, becoming part of the site’s “mise en scène” and an element of the show in its own right: ‘Using only wood gives the construction a magical air. In the enchanted world of fairy tales, buildings are often categorised by one sole feature (the gingerbread house, the ice palace) […] The Théâtre Zingaro doesn’t represent the milieu that it scenarises, it is this milieu.’ (C. Catsaros) Visitors gain access to the sale through high bridges which cross through the stables, bringing a symbolic fusion of the stage and back-stage areas, the show and the work that brings it into being. Almost thirty years after its construction, this “non-regulatory” theatre has never been moved or dismantled. It has become an emblem of circus architecture, and has been readapted several times (the show venue has gone from two hundred to eight hundred seats) and has made a place for itself as one of Aubervilliers’ monuments, a reference point for architects working in the area.
