Theater of Immanence

Theater Agora, Lelystad, the Netherlands, 2002-2005
This building's design explores the integration of traditional theater arts and new media into a sculptural form. The exterior is composed of an overlapping, multi-faceted, and perforated surface that creates a moire effect. Internally the vertical foyer, along with its grand staircase, is designed as an element that carves through the building's central volume to clearly delineate trajectories and orientation with interconnecting theaters and congress halls.

Ben van Berkel is a cofounder and principal architect of the Amsterdam-based firm UNStudio. Van Berkel studied architecture at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and the Architectural Association in London. In 1988 he set up his practice Van Berkel & Bos Architectuurbureau in Amsterdam with Caroline Bos, and in 1998 they established a new firm in addition to Van Berkel & Bos, called UNStudio. Since 1988, Van Berkel & Bos have realizedinternationally acclaimed projects including the Karbouw and ACOM office buildings, the REMU electricity station, some housing projects and the Aedes East gallery in Berlin. The Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, Dutch pavilion for the Triennale di Milano, and the renovation and extension of the Rijksmuseum Twente in Enschede were all completed in 1996. Current projects include the New Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart, the redevelopment of the harbor in Genoa, a music center in Graz and a masterplan for the station area of Arnhem. In 2009, UNStudio Asia was established, with its first office located in Shanghai.