Login
Registered users
The performing arts center completes the Ground Zero masterplan
The final piece of the Ground Zero puzzle, the Perelman Performing Arts Center has opened to the public. The project was the work of REX Architects, which won the international design competition. Named after philanthropist Ronald O. Perelman and located at 251 Fulton Street, the center opens today, Wednesday October 11, and already features a full program of shows, exhibitions, world premieres, meetings, and co-productions.
More than 20 years after the attack on the Twin Towers, the reconstruction of the World Trade Center has therefore reached completion. The idea of creating a public building dedicated to theatre, dance, music, and cinema as the cornerstone of the site’s rebirth was strongly supported by Mike Bloomberg, then mayor of New York and now chair of PAC NYC, with executive director Khady Kamara and artistic director Bill Rauch.
The Perelman Performing Arts Center was conceived as a massive cube wrapped in almost five thousand translucent veined marble tiles that create a biaxially symmetric pattern that’s identical on all four sides of the building. Composed of stone and glass panels, the building’s shell lets in the sun’s rays during the day and dematerializes the volume at night, transforming it into a beacon that illuminates the streets of Lower Manhattan.
The interiors are designed for maximum flexibility. The structure includes three theaters of different sizes: the John E. Zuccotti Theater (with seating for up to 450 people), the Mike Nichols Theater (seating up to 250), and the Doris Duke Theater (seating up to 99). The three can be rearranged into ten different configurations, providing a total of more than 60 stage-audience arrangements with seating for between 90 and 950 people.
Divided by a glass wall, the lobby and restaurant, Metropolis by Marcus Samuelsson, were designed by Rockwell Group. The dining room is defined by its elegant materiality, with finishes in walnut, burnished steel, and antique brass, and its warm color palette, with shades ranging from beige to orange and dark red. The space has a dynamic and bright ceiling, composed of curving timber ribbons with integrated lighting. The restaurant includes a private dining room, bar, and outdoor terrace.
>>> Discover the interiors of the Seda Club Hotel in Granada, also designed by Rockwell Group
Location: new York, USA
Completion: 2023
Size: 12.000 m2
Design Architect: REX Architects
Executive Architect: Davis Brody Bond
Consultants
Theater: Charcoalblue
Acoustics: Threshold Acoustics
Restaurant and Lobby Interior Design: Rockwell Group
Structures: MKA Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Silman
Façade: Front
Lighting: Tillotson
Project Manager: DBI
Construction Manager: Sciame Construction
Photography by Iwan Baan, courtesy of the Perelman Performing Arts Center and REX Architects
