Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2025
Clay Moulded Musical Theatre
- A' Design Award 2025 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Mama architects
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 66,920
- Verification code C7940C700E · Verify this award
About Clay Moulded Musical Theatre
Clay Moulded is the interior design of a musical theatre in Klaipeda, Lithuania. Clay covers the walls and ceilings, and over 30 tonnes of the material were applied by hand. The pattern of the main hall is continuous and runs from one end of the space to the other. A seven stage coating process was developed for the project, including spraying, patterning, drying, scrubbing, glazing and conservation. The walls and ceilings can open and close to control sound reflections, so the space adapts to concerts, plays and meetings. The auditorium seats 700 people.
Marius Mateika's Clay Moulded Musical Theatre represents a distinguished contribution to contemporary performance space design, embodying principles that unite acoustic functionality with profound material expression. The work emerges from a lineage of organically conceived auditoriums that treat architecture as experiential sculpture, where the boundary between structural enclosure and artistic installation dissolves into unified spatial poetry. The designer demonstrates exceptional command of surface articulation, employing undulating horizontal bands that simultaneously reference geological formation processes, traditional ceramic craft, and the physics of sound wave propagation. This triple resonance—natural, artisanal, and acoustic—elevates the interior beyond mere functional accommodation into territory approaching total artwork. The chromatic strategy reveals sophisticated restraint, limiting the palette to an analogous range of earth tones that wrap occupants in warmth while avoiding visual distraction from performance content. Technical achievement is evident in the seamless integration of massive triangular panel sections, their diagonal seams creating dynamic compositional tension against the predominantly horizontal surface rhythms. The seating arrangement follows curvilinear geometry that appears to respond organically to the enclosing walls, as though both emerged from the same formative gesture. Material choices suggest deep consideration of haptic as well as visual experience, the apparent clay surfaces inviting imaginative touch while textile-covered seats promise physical comfort. One might observe how the space seems designed to make sound visible, the wall undulations functioning as frozen acoustic waves surrounding listeners with the physical manifestation of musical vibration. Visitors are invited to contemplate how architecture might embody sound itself, transforming passive containment into active participant in the performative experience.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- For the interior décor, we chose an archaic material - clay. It is probably the largest interior in the world made of natural clay. The pattern and technology of the hall is unique and continuous throughout the space, created by one artist Mantas Petravičius. All planes are in motion. They open and close (as you can see in photo 3) depending on the nature of the concert and the acoustics required. And that's what makes this space even more unique.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The whole theater is 10 000m2 size. The auditorium has seating capacity of 700 people. We used over 30 tonnes of clay for wall decor.
- Tags
- Klaipėdos muzikinis teatras, Klaipėda state musical theatre, MAMA architects
- Production Technology
- We used over 30 tonnes of clay for the walls and ceilings of the entire interior. This work took nine months to complete using unique tools created exclusively for this work and was carried out by the hands. The clay coating process is also unique, developed exclusively for this theatre.The process itself consists of 7 stages (clay spraying, patterning, drying, scrubbing, re-spraying, glazing, conservation). It takes about 3 weeks to complete all the steps. The whole process was implemented on the construction site.
- Design Challenge
- The decor of the main hall is a continuous pattern starting at one end of the hall and ending at the other. Meanwhile, the process required major interruptions and took 9 months. The hardest part was to bring everything together into a coherent picture. The rest of the public spaces (lobbies, passages, staircases) are also made of clay. Here, the pattern is different, but also handmade.
- Project Duration
- The project lasted 5 years. The clay decoration alone took 9 months. The theatre is realized in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
- Operation Flow
- This theatre has transformable walls and ceilings.
They open up. This controls sound reflections. The space adapts to the event. (Depending on whether it's a concert, a play, an meeting event). - Research
- Clay was used for wall and ceiling decor.
The whole process was done by hand in stages:
1.) First, the clay is sprayed, then swiped with special tools made just for this object to form waves.
2.) Waiting for everything to dry. Then the sharp corners are scrubbed.
3.) Repeat the spraying with a thinner layer. After spraying, the clay shall be brushed to distribute the clay evenly and to form a soft surface.
4.) Wait for everything to dry.
5.) Everything is impregnated and preserved. - Inspiration
- The city of Klaipėda, where the theatre is located, is by the sea. We were inspired by the sandy coastline of the sea and the shores shaped by the waves. Klaipėda is an old city dominated by red clay brick buildings. For us, the sea and the clay became the basis for the idea. As this is a theatre, clay seemed to us to be the right material to create a dramatic mood.
- Image Credits
- Photographer: Leonas Garbačauskas