The Teatro Agua y Luz Cultural District restores a historic open-air theater and transforms its surrounding site into a new cultural destination for the Dominican Republic. A civic-scale canopy surrounds the existing theater, framing it like a cultural artifact while generating vibrant urban spaces that reconnect the site to the city and the ocean. The project creates a piazza activated by cultural spaces, offices, restaurants, and retail, establishing the site as a pedestrian destination along the Malecon waterfront.

The theater has long served as a platform for Dominican culture and its globally iconic art forms, including Merengue and Bachata. The restoration returns the performance space to its original character while upgrading it to function as a world-class venue with a retractable roof and new infrastructure.

Positioned on the edge of the government district overlooking the ocean, the site becomes a cultural anchor and a renewed civic center. The masterplan adds approximately 6,500 square meters of office space, 3,000 square meters of retail, and 20,000 square meters of cultural program. The urban canopy shades public spaces, reduces solar gain on buildings, and collects stormwater through permeable paving for subterranean reuse.

“Teatro Agua y Luz draws inspiration from the natural world and the theater’s own history,” says Dominic Leong. “The canopy’s pattern evokes rays of light filtering through the surface of the ocean, establishing a contemporary architectural vocabulary for Dominican culture while respecting the past. By restoring the theater as a Patrimonio Monumental, the project connects past to present, renewing a national icon that serves as both a local gathering place and a global destination.