atelier bow-wow’s puppet theater house
Atelier Bow-Wow are recognised widely for their visual, anthropological books (with Made in Tokyo, Graphic Anatomy, and Pet Architecture among their most popular). Despite this, they are among the most exhibited architects internationally, with installations in almost every major biennale over their 3 decades of practice. Behaviorology, out-of-print and published by Rizzoli in 2010, was the first [conventional] book on their architectural work. It features images and supporting text of all their work to date, which is absent in their Graphic Anatomy series or any other publication.
Puppet Theater House was an installation at TOTO’s Gallery Ma in Tokyo, 2007. Plywood panels are curved and bolted to form seating and viewing spaces for an audience to watch staged puppet plays. The concept for this installation came from Yoshiharu Tsukamoto’s mother’s involvement in puppet plays (since when Tsukamoto was a child), a dying practice. Puppet Theater House playfully brings new life and care to this practice, with its serpentine forms allowing spectators to sit or “pop their heads in” and view the show.
Excerpts
‘One day Yoshiharu Tsukamoto's mother, a longtime veteran of staging puppet plays, expressed doubt that her group's members would continue their endeavor much longer. Originally formed by mothers in the PTA while Tsukamoto was still in elementary school, the troupe has made puppets, written scripts and built a simple stage for presentations for children, the elderly, and the disabled. As they're no longer involved in the PTA, and due to a lack of permanent venue, group membership has stagnated. However, if there were to be a regular performance space, people could see the puppets on display and, more importantly, young mothers might be inspired to participate, extending a thirty-year legacy. This situation coincided with Atelier Bow-Wow's exhibition at Gallery- Ma in Tokyo. Why not, then, turn an exhibition space into a puppet theater?
Constructed of plywood panels that are curved, folded and bolted together, Puppet Theater House is a seating space that stands independently within the gallery. The sections are layered vertically, their sine-curve profiles alternating with one another to create eye-shaped gaps around the complete structure. This allows spectators to pop their heads in from outside to watch the show. Additional boards turn some gaps into sitting surfaces for puppets (above) and humans (below), creating an opera-like atmosphere with multiple miniature box-seats.’
From Atelier Bow-Wow, Behaviourology, 2010.