Today's Circus Infrastructures

New Circuses. New Architectures: Discovering and questioning new infrastructures dedicated to the performing arts, and more specifically to the circus and street arts. Welcome to the first day of meetings organised by Latitude 50, Pôle des arts du cirque et de la rue de Marchin.

Programme : 

11:00 / Conference: Yann Rocher - History and current situation of wooden circus tents

11:40 / Testimonial: Lola Ruiz - Today's circus infrastructures as experienced by a globetrotting circus artist

12:00 / Talk: Mara Pavula - Converting Riga's historic circus into a multifunctional cultural site

12:20 / Lecture: Richard Fournier and Christophe Theilmann - Le plongeoir circus in Le Mans

12:40 / Lecture: Matthieu Meunier, architect of the Cirque de Latitude 50 and Vincent Geens, author of the book "Cirque et architecture en campagne, le manifeste circulaire de Latitude 50".

The Cirque de Latitude 50, designed by the Meunier-Westrade architecture studio, built by the Stabilame company and published in the book Architectures Wallonie-Bruxelles Inventaires #4 2020-2023, tends towards a minimalist architecture at the service of its users. Its spaciousness is the result of the function and intrinsic qualities of wood as a building material. The presentation of Le Cirque will be complemented by a presentation of the book by Vincent Geens.

14:00 / Guided tour: Latitude 50's circus infrastructures: Tour of the site and its infrastructures (Le Cirque de Latitude 50, the Circus School, the Workshop, the House, etc.) by Matthieu Meunier, from the Meunier-Westrade architecture studio.

15:00 / Round table: Circus, wood, architecture: a winning tierce?

After the lectures, personal accounts and guided tour, the speakers are invited to a round table discussion moderated by Audrey Contesse, Director of the ICA. After the round table, discussions between architects, the public and artists will continue more informally in the Moments de cirque.