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Lincoln Center Redevelopment
Designs for "Street of the
Arts" on West 65th Street Unveiled
by Natalie Keith
Designs for the $325 million project to revamp New York's
venerable Lincoln Center were released in the spring.
The goal of the project is to unite 65th Street with the
surrounding cityscape, extend the threshold of Lincoln Center
and open up the campus to encourage the interaction of artists,
students and the public.
"The 65th Street project is about creating opportunities
for the unexpected and magical alchemy that results from the
fusing of cultural and city life," said Rebecca Robertson,
executive director of Lincoln Center Development Project Inc.
"It is about special place-making - making Lincoln Center
even more of a destination than it is today."
The designs were done by the architectural firm of Diller
Scofidio + Renfro of New York, in collaboration with Fox &
Fowle Architects, also of New York. Other firms on the design
team include L'Observatoire International Inc., Cooper Robertson
& Partners and 2 X 4. The project is scheduled to begin
construction in 2006 and be completed in 2009.
The plan includes the significant renovation and expansion
of several of Lincoln Center's cultural facilities, new and
improved amenities for the public and a dramatic new street
presence for several resident organizations: Lincoln Center
for the Performing Arts Inc., The Juilliard School, The Chamber
Music Society of Lincoln Center; the Film Society of Lincoln
Center; The School of American Ballet; Lincoln Center Theater
and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
The release of the designs marked the launch of "Bravo
Lincoln Center," a fund-raising campaign for the redevelopment
program.
"Rather than replace the image of this cultural icon
with one alien to it, we propose to amplify its most successful
features and fulfill its unrealized potential," said
Liz Diller of Diller Scofidio + Renfro. "The challenge
is to interpret the genetic code of this 'monumental modernism'
into a language for younger, more diverse audiences."
Lincoln Center "Street of the Arts"
The revitalization of 65th Street - the first in a series
of independent but related building projects anticipated over
the next decade for Lincoln Center - will create a "front
door" for visitors.
The project will include new street-level entrances, transparent
street-level facades, dramatic lighting, modernist variations
on the traditional theater marquee and informational signs,
Lincoln Center officials said.
Central to the project is the proposed reconfiguration of
65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. The street
would be narrowed, eliminating one car lane. The curb cuts
in the center of the block would also be removed. On the south
side of the street, the sidewalk would be expanded to 27 ft.
in width, and a narrow, translucent footbridge would span
West 65th Street, officials added.
North Plaza Enhancements
Under the project, the public spaces of the North Plaza would
be improved, including expanding the width of the grand stairway
on 65th Street from 32 to 55 ft. and making the slope more
gradual so that the public spaces and buildings on the plaza
are more visible from the street. Landscape elements will
include a new campus green to provide an area where students
and the public can gather.
The iconic reflecting pool with its Henry Moore sculpture
would be elongated and fitted with a black terrazzo plinth
that subtly dips and rises below and above the plaza surface,
with a thin layer of water cascading over the sides.
Expansion of The Juilliard School
The school will undergo a 37,000-sq.-ft. expansion to improve
resources for students, faculty and staff. The expansion will
retain the height of the existing building but extend it eastward
toward Broadway. It will include an orchestra rehearsal room,
a black box theater, a music technology center, practice rooms
and classrooms for the new jazz program and an expanded area
for the archives and a faculty lounge.
Alice Tully Hall
The 1,096-seat auditorium of Alice Tully Hall has not been
upgraded significantly since it opened. Among the components
of its restoration are refurbishment of the wood paneling,
replacing or restoring all finishes, ADA compliance at all
levels, new seats and acoustical improvements.
The Juilliard expansion will form a cantilevered canopy over
Tully Hall's new soaring glass outer lobby and open public
space at West 65th Street and Broadway, offering street visibility
and establishing a presence on Broadway.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
The Film Society will build a new state-of-the-art film presentation
and education complex with a 90-ft. street-level presence
on the south side of 65th Street, adjacent to the enhanced
stairway.
It is anticipated that the interior of the complex will be
designed by David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group in New York.
As part of a 21,000-sq.-ft. building program, the new facility
will house a 150-seat screening room and a 75-seat screening
room, as well as an amphitheater-style public space for lectures,
symposia and other educational activities and a new café
area and coffee bar.
Lincoln Center Theater
An expanded lobby and a dramatic new West 65th Street entrance
leading to both the Vivian Beaumont and Mitzi E. Newhouse
Theaters with a floating glass façade and marquee would
be created for this building. The opening up of the theater
to pedestrians and drivers passing by will serve to increase
the visibility of the building and provide a new "front
door."
Samuel B. and David Rose Building
The entrance for the Samuel B. and David Rose Building, located
on 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, will
be redesigned, creating a glass-enclosed lobby with improved
security.
A new pedestrian circulation hub will connect the Rose Building
and Juilliard, producing a prominent street presence and joining
the plaza level lobby with new escalators and stairs from
the street, a pedestrian footbridge from the North Plaza and
a small crossing from Juilliard's student lounge.
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