The Cineroleum

The Cineroleum was a self-initiated project that transformed a petrol station on Clerkenwell Road into a cinema. The project was an experiment on the potential for the wider re-use of the UK’s 4,000 empty petrol stations. El Cineroleum fue un proyecto augestionado que transformó una gasolinera de Clerkenwell Road en un cine. El proyecto fue un experimento sobre las posibilidades para reutilizar la amplia red de más de 4.000 gasolineras en desuso en el Reino Unido. The Cineroleum was an improvisation on the rich iconography and decadent interiors of the Golden Age picture palace. Classic elements were re-created for the roadside setting using cheap industrial, reclaimed, or donated materials. Flip-up seats were made from scaffolding boards, the foyer was furnished with formica-clad school chairs and tables, and the auditorium was enclosed by a curtain created by hand-sewing about three kilometres of seam in roofing membrane. El Cineroleum fue un proyecto improvisado sobre la rica iconografía y los interiores decadentes del palacio pictórico del Siglo de Oro. Se recrearon elementos clásicos para el entorno de la carretera utilizando materiales industriales baratos, resuados o donados. Los asientos abatibles se hicieron con tablas de andamio, el vestíbulo estaba amueblado con sillas y mesas escolares revestidas de fórmica y el auditorio estaba rodeado por una cortina creada cosiendo a mano más de tres kilómetros de membrana para cubiertas. The Cineroleum was visibly handmade, built on site by a team of over a hundred volunteers, learning and experimenting together, aided by instruction manuals written during the prototyping process. Unlike the out-of-town multiplex, The Cineroleum celebrated the social experience of filmgoing, from the popcorn machine and bar in the old station shop through to the programme of approachable classics.