c/o DBOX
Lincoln Center has announced that the new David Geffen Hall will open in October 2022, two years ahead of the originally anticipated reopening date. The funding goal for the $550 million project has also been achieved.
“The project is improving the entire concert-going experience, creating a state-of-the-art theater to serve as the home of the New York Philharmonic and accommodate anticipated artists and audiences of the future,” a press release reads. “At the same time, it is creating tens of thousands of square feet of new public space for diverse cultural uses, including performance and community—many of them free to the public. It is achieving all this while respecting the iconic exterior.”
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New renderings and videos of the public spaces designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, as well as an updated animation of the new theater designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, led by Principal Gary McCluskie, have been released for the first time.
The Welcome Center — located on the southeast corner of David Geffen Hall — will “be the entry point to access the full campus. Entered from Broadway, this will be a place to buy tickets, get information on programs across the campus, meet friends, and enjoy a light snack from a small café in the middle of the space throughout the day.”
The welcome center, c/o DBOX
The lobby will be almost twice as large as it was before, offering a “lounge with ample seating areas, a bar and concessions to encourage people to come before and stay after performances.” There will also be a 50-foot media wall displaying live events and performances.
The lobby, c/o DBOX
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“…what was once office space will become an innovative venue for smaller scale performance, rehearsals and community gatherings. Prominently positioned at the corner of Broadway and 65th Street, the Sidewalk Studio will be directly visible from Broadway, and outfitted to host a wide range of uses such as talks, readings, after-school activities, film screenings, smaller performances, community meetings and social events. Independently accessible from the street, the Sidewalk Studio provides both a platform and showcase for the community.”
Sidewalk studio, c/o DBOX
c/o DBOX
c/o DBOX
video c/o DBOX
The redesigned theater aims to offer improved acoustics and “a more welcoming and intimate audience experience with optimized sightlines.” By reducing the number of seats by 500, patrons will also be closer to the stage, and “seating will wrap around the stage and bring the entire audience 30 percent closer to the performers.”Advertisement
The new stage will also accommodate “semi-staged opera, dance, film premieres, amplified pop and rock concerts and more.”
Video c/o Cicada Co.
More details on the renovation can be found at www.davidgeffenhall.info.
What’s the prediction for the sound quality improvement?
Guess this also proves if you hire an expensive but highly competent general contract (Turner, and no I don’t work for them), which then puts their best people and best subs on the job, things get finished faster with many fewer issues along the way. (Right, of course some disastrously bad engineering choices could turn up in a few years, but that’s unlikely.)
timely question. one would assume “better” but there is some pretty terrible amplified sound in the theater world.
However, the new amplification system (i guess they call it ‘sound reinforcement’) at City Center is stunningly good. i have been fooled more than once there, thinking the sound is live when it’s not, and recorded when it’s live.
as for hiring the best people, one would think you are right, but that ain’t always necessarily so. some of those audio consultants are just a bunch of punters.
i walked out of ‘Caroline, or Change’ because for where i was sitting, the amplification system made hearing things clearly, hopeless.
This is the 4th (5th? 6th?) time that the old Philharmonic Hall has been redone in the last two or three decades or so. Why is this necessary? Why can’t Lincoln Center (in the words of Billy Joel) “get it right the first time?” Why have they now spent ~$3 billion over two+ decades reconfiguring the hall? What is the problem?