Cirque d’Hiver appears to be oval in shape but it is actually a 20-sided polygon. Each angle sports a Corinthian column on the outside. The low-angled roof seems to resemble the top of a circus tent, however, it is self-supporting and there is no central pole or other poles to obstruct the audience view.
The designer of Cirque d’Hiver was Jacques Hittorff, who later redesigned the Place de la Concordr. Sculptor James Pradier fashioned the bas reliefs on the outside, featuring Amazonian figures, and there are two equestrian statues near the entrance, one of them an Amazon.
Inside, the theater-in-the-round, with one center stage, boasts plush red velvet seats that can accommodate up to 1,650 audience members.
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4 comments:
Dammit, this is all Aaron Turner's fault. If he hadn't decided to pull his show in a tent, we could have respectable circus buildings too.
Maybe we could build a few as part of the Obama stimulus package. It beat another bridge.
Ben,
Excellent idea!!
You seem to be pretty good with the written word!!
get that proposal going !!
Rebecca
I was there a week ago, the most beautiful circusbuilding I had ever visited !
Thomas
Rebecca, Ben,
I could see them turning rather quickly into some kind of trash, by someone who was used to getting in and getting out, and all of a sudden having to change their ways because they were permanent now. I can see things from running people down in the parking lot, to fist fights in the foyer.
Wade
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