Archinect - News

Frank Gehry's transformative Colburn School expansion will break ground in April

2024-02-20T19:14:00-05:00

An official groundbreaking date for Gehry Partners' $335 million Colburn School campus expansion has been set in downtown Los Angeles nearly six years after the project, now dubbed the Colburn Center, was announced in unison with collaborators Nagata Acoustics and TheaterDNA.

Site preparations and other preliminary construction will begin soon on the project, which will yield a total of 100,000 square feet worth of new performance, rehearsal, and education spaces, including a 1,000-seat concert hall, 100-seat theater, and four new dance studios. A special groundbreaking ceremony will take place on April 5th. The Colburn School says they expect construction to reach “substantial completion” by the end of Q1 2027.

View from Hill Street West towards the dance school entrance, dance studios, and public garden. Image: Courtesy of Frank O. Gehry & Gehry Partners, LLP

View East from Olive Street towards the entrance to the concert hall. Image: Courtesy of Frank O. Gehry & Gehry Partners, L...

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to deliver $122M Detroit Music Hall expansion

2023-10-24T12:26:00-04:00

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) has been attached to a major new expansion of the historic Detroit Music Hall, the firm announced on Monday. The project aims to connect an important part of downtown to a burgeoning economic revitalization while providing Detroiters with a “canvas to express the energy and creativity for which the city is globally recognized.”

At seven stories and a total of 100,000 square feet, the new Detroit Music Hall Center will sit next to the existing 95-year-old Wilson Theater and offers the public a 1,900-seat main concert hall, 200-seat recital hall, offices, rooftop restaurant, music academy educational component, and a 4,000-square-foot activated public outdoor area.

In terms of its design, the building utilizes an LED-lit perforated metal rain screen facade to cast itself and its twin as the vibrant cultural anchors for new development in the neighborhood. The duality between industrial daytime activities and the city’s nightlife scene is f...

Sou Fujimoto's Ishinomaki Cultural Center offers a poetic space to a community looking to heal and remember

2023-06-22T14:48:00-04:00

Sou Fujimoto Architects has shared photos of the firm’s recent Maruhon MakiArt Terrace design in Ishinomaki, Japan.

The project sought to rebuild an important piece of the region’s cultural infrastructure that was destroyed by the devastating earthquake and tsunami, which claimed the lives of more than 3,000 local residents there on March 11th, 2011.

Image: © Masaki Iwata and Sou Fujimoto Architects

Responding to a brief that called for a revitalizing centerpiece for the city of 147,000, the design team created a 140,000-square-foot building that plays host to two 1,254- and 300-seat theaters, exhibitions areas, a public gallery, and learning spaces for a variety of different users.

Image: © Masaki Iwata and Sou Fujimoto Architects

A poetic linear arrangement is created as repeated gable ends combine with alternating “chimney-like” rectangular forms connected by a 170-meter (557-foot) long entrance lobby along the south orientation.

...

Frank Gehry reveals an upgraded design for Downtown LA's transformational Colburn Center

2022-03-16T21:27:00-04:00

The musical fabric of Los Angeles is about to get a significant boost from one of its most famous creative backers after Frank Gehry’s updated plans for the Colburn School were made public for the first time in a live-streamed ceremony at its downtown campus earlier today.

Renderings reveal a 100,000-square-foot expansion of the school’s existing facilities into what will be called the Colburn Center, a dynamic new set of interlocking performance venues and public spaces that will couple with a generous set of scholarship programs to further enhance the 72-year-old school’s educational and artistic offerings.

The project is an integral part of the architect's mission to transform the Downtown Los Angeles landscape beginning with his iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall up the street and culminating with his latest, directly adjacent mixed-use addition called The Grand. Gehry worked together with longtime collaborators Michael Ferguson and Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagat...

Snøhetta's St. Louis Symphony Hall renovation and expansion will be music to preservationist ears

2022-03-16T17:10:00-04:00

The historic home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is about to get a makeover as Snøhetta has been named the lead designer for the expansion and modernization of its Midtown headquarters called Powell Hall.

The new 65,000-square-foot expansion will add space for education programs, a new lobby, and an enhanced backstage area for the orchestra musicians inside the 97-year-old building.

Snøhetta will center the expansion on a newly created welcome plaza that serves as a “lyrical” gateway to the orchestra’s patrons and ensemble members, the latter of which will be able to enjoy a backend addition featuring all-new rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms, recording suites, and much-needed storage areas.

We’re renovating and expanding!

Today marks the start of a new chapter for your SLSO and its historic home, Powell Hall, as we announce the first major renovation and expansion of the space that has been our home for more than 50 years.

Learn more https://t.co/U1SpgVJpKK pic.twitter.com...

Gehry Partners reveal new design for the LA Phil Youth Orchestra

2018-08-27T18:17:00-04:00

Initially announced last fall, Gehry Partners' design for Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) has now been revealed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The new structure will be the first permanent facility for YOLA located in the Los Angeles neighborhood Inglewood.

Exterior model view of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center @ Inglewood, interior concert configuration. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.

The 25,000-square-foot, $14.5 million construction project will transform the former branch office of Security Pacific Bank in Inglewood.

Exterior model view of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center @ Inglewood, interior concert configuration. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.

With the aid of Gehry Partner's new facility, YOLA aims to double the number of students it serves providing free music training and academic support.

Exterior model view of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center @ Inglewood. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.

Aerial model view of th...

A new Houston music venue will open its final stage this year

2018-01-19T18:21:00-05:00

Houston recently gained a new music venue designed by SCHAUM/SHIEH, a small architectural collaboration operating between Houston and New York. The White Oak Music Hall is part of a whole cluster of music venues designed by the firm including The Lawn, and Raven Tower Pavilion. The Pavilion, a converted warehouse space, will soon be re-opened as the final stage in the overall music venue project.

The White Oak Music Hall located in Houston by SCHAUM/SHIEH. Image: Peter Molick.

The White Oak Music Hall located in Houston by SCHAUM/SHIEH. Image: Mark Torres/Houston Press.

The project is a seven-acre assemblage of new and adapted buildings, open-air structures, landscaped areas, and paved and decked surfaces along the Little White Oak Bayou. The White Oak Music Hall was completed last year and houses two performance halls with a 1200-person capacity.

The White Oak Music Hall located in Houston by SCHAUM/SHIEH. Image: Peter Molick.

The White Oak Lawn located in Houston by SCHAUM/SHIEH. I...

Take a 360° tour of Steinert Hall, Boston's iconic underground theater

2017-07-26T17:40:00-04:00

Built in 1896 for piano dealers M. Steinert & Sons, Steinert Hall is a magnificent six-story limestone and brick building tucked 40 feet below the street level. Appropriately nicknamed “The Little Gem”, it was designed by Winsell&Weterell and incorporated a Beaux Arts-style facade with terra-cotta ornament and a copper cornice.

Until the 1940s the space functioned as a grand venue for performances—its curved walls bounced compositions performed by many iconic musicians including Polish pianist and former prime minister of Poland, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and pianist/composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Now in ill-repair, the concert auditorium has not been used since its closure in 1942 due to fire code restrictions and the prohibitive cost of upgrading the hall. However, in May of 2015, it was announced that the hall would be renovated in an attempt to open it again for performances.

Paul Murphy, who formerly owned Steinert Hall, noted, “people walk by here every day and they don’t kno...

The resounding success of Allied Works Architecture's "National Music Center"

2017-02-16T20:39:00-05:00

Incorporating both physical and intangible elements of Canada's musical history, the National Music Center by Allied Works is a nine-towered, terra-cotta tile clad complex that not only ropes a 112-year old hotel/blues club into the mix, but creates the kind of spaces suited for gazing dreamily into one's future.

According to Brad Cloepfil, Principal at Allied Works Architecture, the structure was "inspired by the light, landscape and geography of the northern prairie."

He goes on to note that "Studio Bell was created to amplify the rich history and future possibilities of Canadian music. The building aspires to create a sense of wonder and mystery, inspiring the visitor to explore. Nine separate towers rise five floors above the street, each resonating with music and activity. The building is alive with the life of music throughout its exhibition, recording, editing, performance and education spaces. The distinct vessels of music are bound together by the space between them, moments ...