Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Lincoln Center's Concert Hall Dazzles

Renovation at Lincoln Center slices open old building

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 20, 2009 10:32 AM CST
Email

(Newser) – While cities from LA to Copenhagen have unveiled stunning new concert halls in recent years, New York's Lincoln Center complex "seemed mired in indecision." But Alice Tully Hall, one of the center's smaller spaces, reopens to the public Sunday with a bold new design by the architects Diller Scofidio & Renfro. For New York Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff, the refashioned concert hall is "a revelation" that "gleefully carves up" the original building.

Instead of knocking down the 1969 original, the architects have cut into it to create a new lobby with street exposure, "suggesting the building has been sliced open with a can opener." The concert hall itself, with glowing LED lights beneath a super-thin wood veneer, "could have been designed by Apple technicians." Most importantly, writes Ouroussoff, the glass walls and outdoor seating offer "a clear-cut defense of the public realm, something we could use more of in this age of corporate privatization."

A view from inside the lobby of the refurbished Alice Tully Theater at Lincoln Center in New York shows towering vistas of the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.
A view from inside the lobby of the refurbished Alice Tully Theater at Lincoln Center in New York shows towering vistas of the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.   (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Alice Tully Hall is reopening at New York's Lincoln Center after a $159 million makeover. Architects say they've refurbished the interior so that it glows like marine organisms.
Alice Tully Hall is reopening at New York's Lincoln Center after a $159 million makeover. Architects say they've refurbished the interior so that it glows like marine organisms.   (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Cars and pedestrians pass a refurbished Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. Musicians say the new hall has heavenly acoustics; rich, but clear.
Cars and pedestrians pass a refurbished Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. Musicians say the new hall has "heavenly" acoustics; rich, but clear.   (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
A view from inside the Grand Foyer of the refurbished Alice Tully Theater at Lincoln Center in New York shows towering vistas of the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.
A view from inside the Grand Foyer of the refurbished Alice Tully Theater at Lincoln Center in New York shows towering vistas of the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.   (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Crews work on the stage in the theater in Alice Tully hall at Lincoln Center in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.
Crews work on the stage in the theater in Alice Tully hall at Lincoln Center in New York Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009.   (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

The freshness springs from the architects’ willingness to break with worn-out urban design strategies. They aren’t scornful of the building’s history; nor do they treat it with undue reverence. They cut out ugly tumors and open up clogged arteries.
-

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

More to come in $1.2 billion renovations
Time

A video tour of the new building
WNYC

 
architecture • classical music • Lincoln Center • renovation • Diller Scofidio & Renfro

More Newser Stories

Troubled NYC Opera Names Dallas Conductor New GM

How an Amateur Made Classical Cool in NYC
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne