Atlanta dancers to collaborate with world-renowned architects Scogin and Elam

• Image: Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects
• PAPER HOUSE: Atlanta-based architects Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam are known for their innovative designs such as their proposal for the Kaohsiung Maritime Cultural and Pop Music Center above. This summer, the duo will design a cardboard house for a performance by Atlanta dancer Blake Beckham.

Imagine dancing in a house where the walls, the roof, the floor, and everything from the couch and the kitchen table to the toaster and the doorknobs are entirely made of cardboard. That’s the vision that Atlanta dancer Blake Beckham plans to turn into reality this summer

To that end, Beckham has enlisted the help of Atlanta’s foremost experts at creating unusual buildings.

Beckham and her small dance organization, The Lucky Penny, recently approached the world-renowned Atlanta-based architectural firm Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects to discuss her vision of a structurally-sound cardboard house built for dance performance. She was primarily seeking a bit of advice about how to construct such a space, but the two principal architects were so excited and intrigued by the idea that they immediately signed on to design it for her.

From August 16-19, Atlanta audiences will be able to check out the results of the unusual collaboration as Beckham and a team of dancers perform the new work Threshold in a cardboard house designed by the architectural super-duo. The set will be built during a month-long residency by the Lucky Penny at Georgia Tech’s DramaTech Theater beginning July 16.