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Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt co-founder A.J. Diamond passes away aged 89

2022-11-02T18:00:00-04:00

One of the most significant Canadian architects of his era is being remembered this week after news that Diamond Schmitt co-founder Abel Joseph “Jack” Diamond passed away this weekend in Toronto at the age of 89.

Diamond was a mainstay on his adopted country’s architecture scene since first going into the practice in the early 1960s. Born in South Africa in 1932, Diamond studied for an architecture degree at the University of Cape Town in 1956 before reading Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University and then immigrating to the United States to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his master’s studies in architecture and began his career as an apprentice to Louis Kahn.

Diamond moved to Toronto in 1964, where he served as the inaugural director of UT’s Master of Architecture program and eventually founded his own practice, A.J. Diamond Architects, with American Barton Myers in 1975.

Previously on Archinect: Diamond Schmitt Architects' Emily Ca...

Two years ahead of schedule, Diamond Schmitt/TWBTA's David Geffen Hall revamp is ready to debut at Lincoln Center

2022-09-27T18:23:00-04:00

A revamp inside one of America’s most important cultural venues is ready to debut two years ahead of schedule (and reportedly on budget) after the project team behind Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in Manhattan announced an October 8th public opening date on Tuesday.

NYC's redesigned new "cultural living room" is the product of a collaboration between cultural sector heavyweights Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien (TWBTA), noted acoustician Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks, and theater design specialist Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates.

The project's scope includes an acoustical and seating arrangement overhaul of the New York Philharmonic's main Wu Tsai Theater performance space, the creation of a new restaurant and 1,680-square-foot Welcome Center, new multipurpose Sidewalk Studios, and the reconfiguration of public spaces around the building that was originally designed by Max Abramovitz in 1962.

Video courtesy of Lincoln Center for the Performing A...

Renderings reveal a new design for David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

2021-04-12T19:30:00-04:00

The newly released renderings show an innovative “single-room” concept for the theater with audience seating surrounding the stage, like a black box theater. Yet, despite the surround-seating, the overall capacity will be reduced by 500 (to a total of 2,200 seats). The design team includes Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, acoustic consultant Akustiks, and theater design studio Fisher Dachs Associates.

Latest plan to revamp New York's Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center is unveiled

2019-12-05T13:00:00-05:00

A project team led by Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects has been tapped to transform David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, home of the New York Philharmonic.

According to a press release, the $550 million project aims to revitalize the performance hall into a venue that "will bring everyone closer to the music" while also allowing patrons to "feel closer to one another." The scheme doubles the size of the hall's lobby, creating a new welcome center while also adding "more places to meet, work, drink, and hang out." The facilities are set to include interior visualization walls designed to receive musical projections, including concert livestreams that will be made free to the public. The proposal would also reconfigure an exterior facade that will serve as a "canvas for artists to create site-specific works to bring the building alive."

Rendering of the proposed performance hall. Image courtesy of Lincoln Center.

The proposal is the...