Alice Tully Hall Renovations Revealed, Rapturously Received

After nearly two years of renovations, the first phase of Lincoln Center's overall transformation is ready: A completely re-energized Alice Tully Hall is getting to set to open once again this weekend. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in association with FX Fowle, designed the re-imagined space, which houses both Alice Tully Hall and the Juilliard School and was originally a boxy, concrete Brutalist structure by architect Pietro Belluschi. Now, there's a three-story high, glass-enclosed lobby (with cafe) that peers onto Broadway and lets Broadway look inside as well. And over a sunken outdoor plaza—complete with mini-amphitheater seating—is Juilliard's cantilevered extension.

NY Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff raved about the changes:

Sunday’s opening of a remade Alice Tully Hall, the first phase of an overhaul of Lincoln Center scheduled for completion in 2010, is a revelation. Designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro, the womblike performance space, its surfaces flush with new life, makes it hard to remember the dreariness of the 1969 original.

The freshness springs from the architects’ willingness to break with worn-out urban design strategies. They aren’t scornful of the building’s history; nor do they treat it with undue reverence. With the precision of surgeons, they cut out ugly tumors and open up clogged arteries. In doing so, they suggest a way forward for a city in which preservation is all too often a form of embalmment.

He also criticizes the old Lincoln Center —"the watered-down classicism of its travertine buildings seemed to capture all the anxieties of the cold war period, its confused stylistic references camouflaging a kind of emptiness"—and is eager for the rest of Diller Scofidio's work at the arts complex.

Inside Alice Tully Hall, JaffeHolden was in charge of the acoustical design. According to a press release, "The new walls of the Hall have been rebuilt from solid wood and resin and modestly reshaped into sinuous curves to optimally distribute sound reflections and sustain a bright, clear sound for classical concerts, recitals and chamber music." And the wood walls will also "glow from within...through a system of ultra-quiet LED’s that emit light through a wood veneer embedded in thick resin."

This Sunday will be the kickoff of a two-week celebration, Alice Tully Hall Opening Nights, featuring concerts and events—all with tickets $25 or less (or even free!).