Sagunto's theater is located halfway between the city Acropolis, between the historic center today and what remains of the castle, built on the ruins of the Roman forum was hired as an objective fact and as a basis for the project. In addition to the presence of ancient ruins Sagunto, that is an actual building, or what was left of it has become the touchstone for fat of the project, the new one has emerged as the presence of annihilating the old, and together they have always left to the ancient ruins answers that has not been able to give, and so the stage was rebuilt in its majestic abstraction, as if a door in the dual character of the unfinished monument, with the great plain and undecorated walls, brick, and urban scene, with large windows, small windows and metal railings, which follow directly fronts the houses in the historic center.
The restoration of the Roman Theatre of Sagunto travagliatissima had an affair. Published on almost all international magazines and won many architectural awards, was attacked hard from the beginning, especially for political reasons, the Polar Party and the English right, then in opposition. After 15 years it seemed that the controversy, and especially that requests for demolition of the magnificent scene in front, rebuilt by the architects and Portaceli Grassi, had finally silenced and a month ago but the final ruling of the Supreme Court of Madrid: the theater has to be killed and restoration to its condition, the alleged original of ruin. From
the news has been nearly two years. Two years of demonstrations, collecting signatures for two years (including this blog came from a substantial support against the demolition see the post in January and February 2008, notably that of Wednesday, January 30, 2008 "Collection of signatures against the demolition of the Theatre Sagunto), two years of claims by all national and international architectural culture and unlike what often happens in Italy (where we fill the mouth of the word democracy, whether it be local or parliamentary, but then the people will not be ever heard, I am referring to many special events and even local, but of course not limited to) maybe we have now: the Theatre of Sagunto is saved! Stipulates that a piece today on El Pais: El Tribunal Supremo cerrado el viejo culebrón of mucho más antiguo Teatro Romano de Sagunto. No se las obras de rehabilitación demolerán dirigieron que hare 20 años y los arquitectos Manuel Portaceli Giorgio Grassi, en la era of socialist último Gobierno valenciano .
A political battle between representatives of the English right, who had applied in the early 90s with a firm proposal to demolish the theater, and the Socialist Left and the international architectural culture, a cultural battle, a battle that finally, after about twenty years, seems to be over and that seems to have won over common sense, even the architecture and the theater will remain as is and will not be demolished.
I believe that the theater in Sagunto is one of the most extraordinary works of the twentieth century, a real manual of architecture in the broadest sense of the term, and for this I am sure it is right to have saved from what could be a real barbarity. For years, whenever I happen to go to Spain and Valencia in particular we look at the health of the theater, like the last time, as if to give him a final farewell, but luckily the theater was saved and this summer or the next or the next we can go there and maybe even our children to see this amazing work of architecture.
