Tennessee Performing Arts Center, where art and community come together

Since its opening more than 45 years ago — in 1980 — the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) has stood as one of the nation’s leading cultural institutions, bringing together the arts and the community. By 2030, this important institution will have a new home, designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group and William Rawn Associates (WRA), together with HASTINGS Architecture, in the heart of Nashville along the Cumberland River. The entire project has been shaped around the idea of creating a space of “connections”: between different parts of the city, between people, and between the arts.

“This new center represents the future of the performing arts in Nashville and across our state”, said Jennifer Turner, president and CEO of TPAC. “For more than four decades, TPAC has brought world-class performances and transformative arts education programs to the people of Tennessee. Our new home will allow us to welcome larger audiences, support more artists, and expand the impact of the performing arts in communities throughout Tennessee”.

Tennessee Performing Arts Center, an iconic architecture

The building immediately captures attention with its iconic metallic façade, which changes appearance depending on the viewing angle. Shaped by a series of aluminum tubes, the structure takes on a dynamic yet sculptural form inspired by a theatrical curtain. Its undulating shape and soft arches echo the movement of stage drapery. Just as a curtain rises, the building’s outer skin will lift to reveal the vibrant life within.

“The new home of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center is conceived as an urban and cultural connector”, added Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director of BIG. “The façade will be composed of aluminum tubes grouped like organ pipes, undulating to create openings and canopies for visitors and passing performers. The result will be a fluid public pavilion immersed in the park, offering the inclusive and welcoming character that TPAC’s program and performances deserve”.

Space for performances

Welcoming visitors inside the TPAC — which will include the multifunctional Grand Broadway Theater, a dance and opera hall, a flexible black box theater, a cabaret venue, rehearsal rooms, and classrooms, while also serving as the home of the Nashville Ballet, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Repertory Theatre — will be a large, light-filled atrium and two foyers leading to performance spaces on different levels of the complex, the main one positioned at waterfront level overlooking the river. Atriums, foyers, broad staircases, and public areas are designed to encourage gathering and interaction before and after performances, reflecting the spirit that has always defined TPAC.

External stairways will likewise connect the center to the riverfront, alongside a surrounding park, outdoor performance areas, gathering spaces, and play areas designed to enrich the life and opportunities of the neighborhood.

Innovative and state-of-the-art venues

Among the project’s most distinctive features are the stalls and seating of the Broadway Theater, designed as staggered floating wooden terraces to ensure improved sightlines toward the stage. The same attention to visual quality can be found throughout the other venues: the black box theater, for example, is intended to immerse audiences in the performance as though they themselves were on stage. Meanwhile, the cabaret venue will feature a stage extending directly toward the audience.

“At the heart of TPAC’s new home, four venues will create unique and memorable theatrical experiences, celebrating the vitality of live performance”, said Cliff Gayley, design principal at WRA. “Each space will express its own personality while intensifying the audience experience and the intimacy between artist and spectator”. “The venues are designed to host a wide range of performances”, concluded Thomas Christoffersen, partner at BIG, “with mezzanines connecting the various levels all the way to the roof. The central foyer will be constantly animated by energy, bringing together audiences from different performances before and after every show”.

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