The Architecture of the Circus. Graphic Analysis of Circus Spaces in Today’s Society

Abstract

The performing art of circus creates a particular architecture due to its func- tion as a physical variety show. The original image has managed to endure, while developing new spatial alternatives to adapt to the changes caused by the artist’s experimentation, audience tastes and fulfilment of institutional values.

The documentation on the circus has a historical and social foundation, but there is little academic research that analyses it in artistic, aesthetic and spatial terms. Thus, the objective of this research is to identify the differ- ent circus typologies that exist today from an architectural perspective, an- alysed through a methodology of visual decomposition of each of the spaces by means of a graphic representation by the author. The result is the compar- ison of the particularities that define each of the models in common terms, to conclude with the characteristics that distinguish and consolidate a particu- lar staging location and a more favourable spatial environment for the circus show to be recognised within the performance culture integrated into the society of the future.