of its state; below it, they resurfaced walls and floors. This allowed for practical conveniences and
updates, but left a visual palimpsest of the building’s history just above head-height. At times the
contrast is subtle, at others dramatic. Intentionally or not, it is often also quite handsome, with
corridors of deep grey wall panels aligned with wood door lintels, below raw upper regions showing
the scars of construction. It’s as if a ‘carpet’ of human-height semi-luxury had been laid down for
where people could tread or touch, but no more than that. Whyever not?The galleries running around the fly tower are lovely spaces, dimly illuminated through the white
external panels... You can easily imagine creative thinking and collaborative plots hatched whilst
meandering around the big box. Performance is an exhilarating endeavour before, during and after
it actually takes place. This raw structure is an ideal container for that necessary energy.Photography by Manfred Ortner