Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center

Rank #15
Cost: $142 million

The new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., is refreshing from numerous angles.

It's a visually inspiring site, built into a hillside and taking advantage of eye-stopping landscapes. It's a technological marvel, linking studio, performance and rehearsal spaces in a slick wiring network. And it's a top-notch concert space, the vision of architect Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners of New York and London.

The 203,000-sq.-ft. structure's most arresting feature is its placement - built into a hillside on the campus that overlooks a spectacular Hudson River Valley panorama. The design places the performing arts spaces in the natural-lit portions, while housing the experimental media and support areas in a "cool space" clad in curtain walls on the exterior and sheer white polished walls on the inside.

The $142 million building's core elements are its 1,200-seat concert hall, 400-seat theater and two performing studios - one 3,500 sq. ft. and the other 2,500 sq. ft. It also will have suites for artists-in-residence, rehearsal spaces and student and support facilities upon its completion in late 2006.

But the building's mission entails more than a typical performing space. It's meant to foster cutting-edge artistic performances and experimentation in various academic disciplines. In the end, the center will not only serve the campus but also the regional and international arts communities in offering an innovative space for both learning and performing.

The hillside construction has an elaborate structural system that involved many members of the project team, which included construction manager Tishman Construction Corp., architect of record Davis Brody Bond, civil engineer Clough, Harbour & Associates and various acoustic and theater consultants. Ensuring structural stability within the hillside was a key aim of the design.

The design's orientation toward the views was also essential. Visitors will enter the building from the top and descend into the building via a series of cascading staircases. The roof atop the building will also offer a promenade-style structure where visitors can take in the views of the Hudson River and Troy.

The capping achievement of the building will be its high-tech connections that link performance venues, production and postproduction facilities to each other, allowing transmission of sounds and images to and from any part of the building.

The end result will be spaces that range from the informality of an artist's studio to a full-blown concert hall sharing the best in communication, acoustical and technological capabilities.

The center will feature advanced lighting systems; multimedia technology; high-end editing and recording capabilities; a digital broadcasting facility for WRPI, the student-run radio station; and spaces adaptable to visualization, simulation and animation studies.

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