IMMA Teens Open House Dublin
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The Arch, and the Theatre of Marching
An IMMA workshop for teens as part of the Irish Architecture Foundation's Open House Dublin 2016.
How is the city a stage? How does IMMA at the Royal Hospital, built in 1684 for retired military personnel, provide a theatrical architectural space? And how can we interact with that space in a meaningful, creative, and fun way?
In our workshop for young people as part of Open House Dublin, we look at a key architectural invention, the arch, which has been used to support buildings and to celebrate military victories since Roman times. IMMA has what is possibly the most beautiful arcaded courtyard in Dublin. Its colonnade is made of graceful arches with a unique sense of rhythm, while the museum’s main entrance, the West Arch, has a carved tympanum with trophy symbols of conquered enemies. In our workshop, we will hear about the history of the arch, we will discover how the architecture of our bodies learns/unlearns movement, and we will create artworks that represent our own ‘trophies’ (symbols celebrating personal achievements); our workshop will then culminate in a creative, anti-militaristic, individually expressive, and theatrical march, as we carry our trophies through IMMA’s arches.