REX Reveals Design of Perelman Performing Arts Center at WTC in New York

REX has released images of the future Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center (The Perelman Center), located on the World Trade Center site in New York City. Located between the gleaming glass tower of One World Trade and the future Two World Trade Center, the Perelman Center takes on a solid, pure form as it is set to become a new home for theater, dance, music, film, opera, and multidisciplinary works for visitors and residents of Lower Manhattan.

REX Reveals Design of Perelman Performing Arts Center at WTC in New York - More Images+ 54

Southeast Night View. Image © Luxigon

Set into the complex campus, the 90,000 square foot building has been rotated to fit within below-ground constraints, as well as address the 9/11 museum and transportation hub. To complement the building's overall stoic demeanor, a slice has been cut out of the cube to provide seating that opens onto the new public plaza outside.

Aerial View. Image © Luxigon
Rehearsal Room. Image © Luxigon

The structure is wrapped in translucent, veined marble (“from the same Vermont quarry as the U.S. Supreme Court building and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial”) and then laminated within insulated glass – giving the building an elegant, book-matched stone appearance by day, while the thinness of the material creates a dematerialized, glowing appearance at night that displays silhouettes of activity within.

Designed for high-levels of flexibility, the Perelman Center will contain three performances halls seating 499, 250 and 99 people, as well as a rehearsal room capable of adapting for alternative performance configurations.

Diagrammatic Section. Image © REX

“While the building’s elegant exterior befits the site, its muscular, utilitarian interior expresses the workhorse quality necessary for the changing nature of The Perelman Center’s artistic needs, through ruggedly beautiful materials that encourage the frequent transformation of scenery and stage-audience configurations,” explain the architects in a press release.

Perimeter at Intermission. Image © Luxigon

“The Perelman Center is an immensely flexible canvas on which directors can script the patrons’ entire experience from their very entrance into the building,” said Joshua Prince-Ramus, Principal of REX. “It is a ‘mystery box,’ a constant source of surprise for theatergoers and the community. We are honored to be involved with such an important project on such an important site.”

The Perelman Center is expected to open to the public in 2020. Construction costs for the project are currently estimated at $243 million. 

Frontal View. Image © Luxigon
Site Plan. Image © REX

Client: Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center
Program: Performing arts center, including three auditoria (499-, 250-, and 99-person) which can combine to form seven additional arrangements, and a rehearsal room—all eleven of which can adopt manifold stage-audience configurations; flexible front- and back-of-house circulation that can create diverse patron entry/intermission/exit processions; and (A-Z) offices, performer support spaces, and restaurant/bar
Area: 8,400 m2 (90,000 sf)
Status: Invited competition 2014; first prize 2015; commenced Schematic Design 2016; completion expected 2020
Design Architect: REX
Personnel: Adam Chizmar (PL), Maur Dessauvage, Alysen Hiller Fiore (PL), Sebastian Hofmeister, Suemin Jean, Claire Kuang, Kirby Liu, Weronika Marciniak, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Vaidotas Vaiciulis
Competition Team: Giannantonio Bongiorno, Adam Chizmar (PL), Alberto Cumerlato, Mahasti Fakourbayat, Alysen Hiller Fiore (PL), Gabriel Jewell-Vitale, Min Kim, Dominyka Mineikyte, Elizabeth Nichols, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Raul Rodriguez, Michal Sapko, Emma Silverblatt, Elina Spruza, Michele Tonizzo, Vaidotas Vaiciulis, Michael Volk, Cristina Webb
Executive Architect: Davis Brody Bond
Consultants: Arup, CCI, Charcoalblue, Cost Plus, Ducibella Venter & Santore, Front, Jaros Baum & Bolles, Jenkins & Huntington, Magnusson Klemencic, RWDI, Sciame, Silman, Thornton Tomasetti / Weidlinger, Threshold, Wilson Ihrig

News via The Perelman Center.

Auditorium in Traverse. Image © Luxigon
Stoneglass. Image © Luxigon

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About this author
Cite: Patrick Lynch. "REX Reveals Design of Perelman Performing Arts Center at WTC in New York" 08 Sep 2016. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/794971/rex-reveals-design-of-perelman-performing-arts-center-at-wtc-in-new-york> ISSN 0719-8884

Southeast Day View. Image © Luxigon

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