Sharpness of the New - Softness of the Old

architect Peter Plattner
project Renovation and Remodeling of the Amonn House, Bolzano, Italy
written by Vera Grimmer

 

A stylistically exact renovation of a historical building is certainly a respectable undertaking, which can be compared to a theatrical performance of a classic in which the actors wear costumes of the appropriate period, the sets are realistic, and the director attempts a faithful rendering of the old play. But Jan Kott famously taught us that Shakespeare is our contemporary. He made it possible to show Hamlet as an existentialist rebel in jeans and a black sweater, Richard III in a Nazi uniform, or Shylock as an elegant businessman from Chicago, in a '30s suit, with greased hair. This does not harm the quality of the dramatic expression, quite the contrary. Medieval battles are shown as live paintings of Piero della Francesca accompanied by a heavy techno beat – everything is possible in the "director's theater", as proven by its best representatives like Peter Brook, Robert Wilson, Peter Zadek, Klaus Peymann.