I'm a student currently at my final year of my architecture degree study.
My thesis tittle is about reviving the old, stand-alone cinema. many of the freestanding cinema buildings that sprouted up in the 50s to 70s now occupy large sites in highly sought-after urban or established suburban commercial locations. Now, these building have been in poor condition, demolished, abandonded.. It used to be the main contributor for culture and urban setting.
Freestanding cinema gives more intimate ambience if compared to the Cineplex / Multiplex which is more impersonal. Although nowadays cinema trend is to to give more choices to the consumer and provide more comfort facilities. But , I still think that is a possibilities of reviving these freestanding cinema building and act as magnet for the surrounding development.
I would be very grateful if anyone who share the same thought join in the discussion with me. Any suggestion of resources for further reference is most welcome.
Description Category: Movies
A mailing list for members of the Cinema Theatre Association to exchange information about all aspects of cinema buildings.
I am not sure what the object of your revival is. Is it the programmatic that you wish to revive(historicism)-or is a revival of an existing cinema building through a 'rediscovery'? The danger in the former is reverting to a fabled nostalgia . You mention a "more intimate ambience"...behind that is an unstated assumption that there is an omnipresent unique inter-(cross)referential Subject/viewpoint without dure regard to change in temporal-cultural sensibilities
bluntly: does a freestanding cinema really offer a more intimate ambience than a miltiplex...nowadays? I find that the refurbished Electric , letsd say, in London attracts a much more reserved adult and affluent audience than a Warner complex for example. People are more 'rowdy'..perhaps less self conscious than at the Electric. There is an space here to argue that the institutionalised self-referential branded space of the 'Warner Village' (not just a branded building..but a whole village...) offers a space that is intuitively understood to be class-less. Like McDonalds...the rich and the poor are on equal par. Whilst the refurbished 'intimacy' of a nicely designed historical cinema/posh resturant will immideately have class ,etiquette and prejudicial attachments. Warner/McDonald's..etc..witnesses (within reason..) more gossip, fights,rowdiness, rudeness,sexual gropings, sneers, tantrums, hugs...etc.
There is no such absolute thing as an 'intimate ambience' removed from a Subject's relevant cultural background/standpoint. Most of us have been in many more institutionalized spaces than specially wonderfully designed gems of warmth..we have learnt to turn the institutional into the personal.
I'm not dismissing your idea..not at all..but I do think that something more than mere revivalism needs to happen. Something which can makes those freestanding cinemas into new creatures that are relevant to their time (the present-the future) and specific locations.
Jul 12, 04 11:44 am ·
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old standalone cinema building
I'm a student currently at my final year of my architecture degree study.
My thesis tittle is about reviving the old, stand-alone cinema. many of the freestanding cinema buildings that sprouted up in the 50s to 70s now occupy large sites in highly sought-after urban or established suburban commercial locations. Now, these building have been in poor condition, demolished, abandonded.. It used to be the main contributor for culture and urban setting.
Freestanding cinema gives more intimate ambience if compared to the Cineplex / Multiplex which is more impersonal. Although nowadays cinema trend is to to give more choices to the consumer and provide more comfort facilities. But , I still think that is a possibilities of reviving these freestanding cinema building and act as magnet for the surrounding development.
I would be very grateful if anyone who share the same thought join in the discussion with me. Any suggestion of resources for further reference is most welcome.
Here is the URL of the homepage i have developed about this tittle.
http://www.geocities.com/my_oldcinema/intro.html
Description Category: Movies
A mailing list for members of the Cinema Theatre Association to exchange information about all aspects of cinema buildings.
I am not sure what the object of your revival is. Is it the programmatic that you wish to revive(historicism)-or is a revival of an existing cinema building through a 'rediscovery'? The danger in the former is reverting to a fabled nostalgia . You mention a "more intimate ambience"...behind that is an unstated assumption that there is an omnipresent unique inter-(cross)referential Subject/viewpoint without dure regard to change in temporal-cultural sensibilities
bluntly: does a freestanding cinema really offer a more intimate ambience than a miltiplex...nowadays? I find that the refurbished Electric , letsd say, in London attracts a much more reserved adult and affluent audience than a Warner complex for example. People are more 'rowdy'..perhaps less self conscious than at the Electric. There is an space here to argue that the institutionalised self-referential branded space of the 'Warner Village' (not just a branded building..but a whole village...) offers a space that is intuitively understood to be class-less. Like McDonalds...the rich and the poor are on equal par. Whilst the refurbished 'intimacy' of a nicely designed historical cinema/posh resturant will immideately have class ,etiquette and prejudicial attachments. Warner/McDonald's..etc..witnesses (within reason..) more gossip, fights,rowdiness, rudeness,sexual gropings, sneers, tantrums, hugs...etc.
There is no such absolute thing as an 'intimate ambience' removed from a Subject's relevant cultural background/standpoint. Most of us have been in many more institutionalized spaces than specially wonderfully designed gems of warmth..we have learnt to turn the institutional into the personal.
Ok aside from that, why would a revival of 'freestanding cinema building ...act as magnet for the surrounding development.' There is far too much dependence on this nostalgia to do so much. This nostalgia might work within an an already developed nice trendy restaurant-bar-café area where the 'intimacy' of those sweet relics might be marketable.
I'm not dismissing your idea..not at all..but I do think that something more than mere revivalism needs to happen. Something which can makes those freestanding cinemas into new creatures that are relevant to their time (the present-the future) and specific locations.
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