Humanistiska Teatern

Humanistiska teatern is the newest addition to the campus at Uppsala University; an arena designed to stimulate open and democratic dialogue, for faculty and public alike. This is not a space for passive audiences, but a place where everyone can participate within the intimate grandeur of the amphitheatre setting.

Democratic by design

Humanistiska Teatern is a new public forum that encourages cross-disciplinary dialogue among faculties, as well as between the university and community; on a local, national and international scale. Unlike the traditional theatre hall made for passive audiences, this horseshoe-shaped auditorium invites dialogue between speakers and attendees. On the wall at the open end of the horseshoe, a 32 sqm interactive display opens the debate to participants around the world participating through digital channels.

Client: Akademiska Hus
Location: Uppsala, Sweden
Status: Completed 2017
Area: 3,100 sqm
Environmental certification: Miljöbyggnad Silver
Awards: Plåtpriset, 2018,
Nomination Årets Bygge (Building of the Year), 2018, Design S Awards 2018 – aluminium facade as public art.
Artwork: Ann Lislegaard
Visuals: Måns Berg, White Arkitekter

Unlike the traditional theatre hall made for passive audiences, this horseshoe-shaped auditorium invites dialogue between speakers and attendees.

Widening participation

140 seats are placed in a horseshoe arrangement on a steep gradient around a central area. This layout enables all present to make eye contact with each other. On the wall at the open end of the horseshoe, a 32 sqm interactive display opens the debate to participants around the world.

The intention of Humanistiska Teatern is to promote dialogue; something that is of the utmost importance in our time of ‘alternative facts’. This critical conversation is needed now more than ever.

Margaretha Fahlgren, Chair, Humanistiska Teatern Steering Group

Innovative auditorium design that ensures that every voice is equal.

Microphones and speakers are integrated in the ceiling, making speaker microphones obsolete. Someone on the eight row can converse with someone on first row across the room, without raising voices. The acoustics can also be adjusted to recreate the sound of a church, or cave, depending on the ambience required.

The 17th century Gustavianum Anatomiska Teatern has been a constant inspiration for this project. The symphony of acoustics, colour and lighting create an intimate space for debate, but also a building that is monumental and a little mysterious.

Jacob Melin, Project Architect

The building serves as a passage to and from other buildings on the Engelska Park campus and provides new offices, meeting, and teaching rooms to supplement campus amenity.

Embedding art within design

A sophisticated curved façade faces the botanical gardens and Blåsenhus Campus to the south. This is clad with bronze-colored aluminum sheets, perforated by hexagonal-punched patterns, inspired by the nature of Linnaeus. This piece of public art was designed by the Norwegian-Danish international artist, Ann Lislegaard in conjunction with Statens Konstråd – State Arts Council. At night, strategic lighting adds drama to the façade, illuminating the building and artwork.

The computational design system developed by Dsearch ensured that the orthogonal motif was correctly projected onto the the façade, and translated from a vector-based image into hexagonal die cut patterns distributed over the 323 panels.