Architecture firm Marvel has designed a concept for open-air theatres within shipping containers to put on outdoor performances in New York during the coronavirus pandemic.
Marvel's concept involves converting shipping containers into stages bridging between two scaffolding towers, raised 12 feet (3.6 metres) over the street.
Shipping containers could become a stage
In the evenings, the road could be closed off to vehicle traffic to allow an audience to sit below, looking up at the stage. During the day, cars and cyclists could pass below the bridge theatre unimpeded.
Platforms in front of the shipping container sets would act as more stage space. The audience could sit, socially distanced, at ground level.
Performances held above street Broadway, New York's famous theatre district, has been closed since 12 March 2020, the day after the WHO announced that coronavirus had become a pandemic. Its theatres are expected to remain shuttered until June 2021.
The local architecture firm developed the concept in response to NY PopsUp, a plan to put on 300 pop-up theatre performances announced by New York governor Andrew Cuomo.
The containers would rest on a bridge over the road
Marvel designed the shipping-container bridge theatres to demonstrate that performances could be carried out on busy streets with limited impact on the flow of pedestrians and no impact on daytime traffic.
"There is a culture of sidewalk bridging in our streets and sidewalks," said practice found...