In case the everyday theater of urban street life isn't quite adequate in an age of $200 million Hollywood blockbusters, a design collective from Auckland, New Zealand has created a way to turn any stoop into a mini cinema.
AJ Artemel introduces the "Stairway Cinema," a pop-up cinema designed by OH.NO.SUMO. According to Artemel, "The micro-theater is grafted onto an existing stoop such that the stairs
become seats (for up to seven people) and films, selected by viewers,
are projected onto the canopy while pedestrians pass below. The cinema
doubles as a refuge from rain, and as an incubator of random social
encounters."
We're a little dubious about the need to introduce yet another screen onto streets already overrun with cell phone gazing pedestrians. But Artemel claims, "The project aims to encourage people to trade private screens for one
somewhat more public, as the project uses social media to reintroduce
interaction into the physical public realm."
FULL STORY: A Sidewalk Theater for the Socially Challenged

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