Live Architecture explores the physical form of popular music performance space from 1960 to the present day.

This book quantifies the factors that determine what makes a venue successful focusing on both famous and less well-known examples from the smallest barroom music space to the largest stadium-filling rock set. It draws on the author s extensive research expertise in the field of temporary and portable architecture, in the development of general contemporary architectural design, and personal experience of music performance.

Including a range of case studies, the book analyses some of the most significant popular music venues, events and landmarks in the world. The detail of how a venue is created, how it is constructed, and the acoustic and visual environmental factors that impact on its success are examined here.

Highly illustrated throughout with design drawings, plans and full colour photographs, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the architecture of live popular music.

Theaters, concert halls and opera houses belong to the main building tasks of our times. Numerous cities as well as communities are adding stage buildings for performing arts to their cultural infrastructure and are renewing historical buildings. The acoustics and stage mechanisms are adjusted to modern requirements, while the standards of the in-house technology and the amenities for visitors are decidedly improved. Prestigious projects for various towns and states result in extraordinary buildings. These not only convince in terms of their interior design, but also make an impact on the cityscape as solitary structures. 60 outstanding projects from around the world are presented in this volume from the Masterpieces series.

A detailed study of the construction and history of the Coliseo de la Cruz, the first modern public theatre in Madrid, built on the site of the city's oldest permanent playhouse. The Coliseo de la Cruz, the first modern public theatre in Madrid, was constructed [1736-37] on the site of the city's oldest permanent playhouse, the Corral de la Cruz, dating from 1579. The corral, an open-air courtyard theatre, was surrounded by private boxes in neighbouring houses [recently studied in this series by Charles Davis], which only intermittently contributed to the municipal coffers; by 1736, moreover, it was decrepit and ill-suited to current staging requirements. The city authorities therefore replaced it by an up-to-date, fully self-contained theatre building with a proscenium stage. The new coliseo was fashioned in the Italian style, but maintained many characteristics of the corral theatres, such as the cazuela [separate women's gallery], and continued to attract a varied audience, representing virtually every level of Madrid society. Finally, in 1859, the Coliseo de la Cruz, by now inadequate and in ill repair, was demolished to alleviate traffic congestion at the Puerta del Sol. PHILLIP B.THOMASON is Professor of Spanish at Pepperdine University, California. El Coliseo de la Cruz, el primer teatro publico moderno de Madrid, fue construido [1736-37] en el solar del corral de comedias mas antiguo de la ciudad, el Corral de la Cruz, inaugurado ya en 1579. El corral, con su patio al aire libre, habia estado rodeado de aposentos particulares situados en las casas colindantes [estudiados recientemente en esta serie por Charles Davis], cuyos duenos contribuian relativamente poco a los fondos municipales; en 1736, ademas, estaba deteriorado y poco adecuado para la nueva escenografia. Por tanto, el Ayuntamiento lo derribo, reemplazandolo por un teatro moderno, enteramente cubierto, con proscenio y decorados en perspectiva. El nuevo coliseo estaba disenado al estilo italiano, pero retenia muchos elementos de los corrales de comedias, entre ellos la cazuela de las mugeres, y siguio atrayendo a un publico variado, que incluia practicante todos los estratos de la sociedad madrilena. Finalmente, en 1859, el Coliseo de la Cruz, ya desfasado y deteriorado a su vez, fue derribado para aliviar los problemas de trafico en la Puerta del Sol. PHILLIP B.THOMASON es profesor de espanol de Pepperdine University, California.

This visual sourcebook traces the development of its colorful and varied forms as they developed in early America, on the western frontier, and in cities from coast to coast. The first comprehensive study of American theaters, it illustrates their wide range from raucous music halls to vaudeville, from circus to grand opera, from World's Fair to Coney island, from nickelodeon to glorious picture palace. Also featured are theaters for burlesque, theaters afloat, military theaters, Shakespearean theaters, summer theaters, theaters and African-Americans, and arenas (when a stage just won't do), enlivened by a cast of entrepreneurs and showmen who were the movers and shakers of our theatrical heritage.