Juliertheater, Theatre on Julier Pass, Grisons, Switzerland
Juliertheater was a temporary tower on Julier Pass, built in 2017 and demolished in 2023. Its plan was a regular ten-pointed star, with flat apses at each corner, and its walls were made of 12 cm thick full-wood panels, painted dark red inside and out. The tower was about 30 m high and 25 m in diameter, with large arched windows forming spectator boxes for up to 220 people; a stage hung centrally on chains.
Giovanni Netzer, director of the Origen Festival Cultural, proposed the theater in early 2016 to gain a dedicated stage in Graubünden. Built in three months in summer 2017, it opened on 31 July 2017; the first opera followed on 3 August. In September 2018 it hosted a meeting of six European heads of state chaired by Swiss President Alain Berset. Demolition began in September 2023.
The building served as a stage for the Origen Festival Cultural, which ran its productions there, and it could also be used as an assembly venue. In September 2018 it hosted a meeting of six European heads of state convened by Swiss President Alain Berset. The stage hung from chains at the centre, and the ten window arches held boxes for up to 220 spectators.
The theater sat 15 kilometers from St. Moritz and 75 kilometers from Chur, making it difficult to reach without additional transport. Performances were supported by shuttle bus connections to help visitors reach the high-altitude location.
The theater's architectural form played with references to the Tower of Babylon, linking ancient building styles with contemporary design. This unusual source of inspiration gave the mountain theater a deeper conceptual meaning.
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