Winspear Opera House Dallas, Architecture, Images, United States of America

Winspear Opera House, Dallas : Texas Arts Building

New American Arts Building Development - design by Foster + Partners

15 Oct 2009 Winspear Opera House Dallas Foster + Partners' Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House opens in Dallas Date: 2008-09 Architect: Foster + Partners Address: Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, AT&T Performing Arts Center, 2403 Flora Street Dallas, TX 75201, United States Contact AT&T Performing Arts Center: (214) 880-0202 photo : Tim Hursley Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House Part of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, the new Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in Dallas redefines the essence of an opera house for the twenty first century, breaking down barriers to make opera more accessible for a wider audience. photo : Nigel Young_Foster+Partners Responding to the Dallas climate, a generous solar canopy extends from the building, revealing below a fully glazed sixty foot high lobby. Beneath the canopy, a shaded pedestrian plaza creates a major new public space for Dallas. photos : Iwan Baan Around the Opera House itself, angled off-grid under the canopy, there is the Annette Strauss Artists’ Square, with its outdoor performance space for an audience of 5000, a smaller outdoor performance space with a café terrace and the main entrance to the opera house with access to the car park below. photos : Iwan Baan Organisationally, the Winspear creates a transparent, publicly welcoming series of lobby spaces, which wrap around the rich red glass drum of the 2,200-seat auditorium. Entered beneath a lower canopy, the transition from the Grand Plaza through the foyer into the auditorium is designed to heighten the drama of attending a performance. photos : Iwan Baan Vertical sliding glass panels moving the full length of the east façade allow the building with its café and restaurant to be fully opened up. The grand staircase, flowing from one side to the other around the drum, links all the lobby spaces. Deep gouges in the drum itself allow the audience to move horizontally at each of the balcony levels. photos : Iwan Baan The auditorium creates a sense of intimacy with the performers. Working with Theatre Projects, a horseshoe plan combined with the dramatic vertical stacking of its seating balconies ensure that the audience is as close as possible to the stage. Intimacy is further reinforced by emphasising the balcony fronts, with their white gold finish highlighted against the rich dark red interior. To heighten the sense of drama, there is a chandelier that ascends into the ceiling of the auditorium with its two giant rings and central dome at the beginning of the performance. To complete the auditorium, the distinguished Argentinean artist Guillermo Quintero has designed a mesmerising curtain for the stage. pictures : Foster + Partners Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House design : Foster + Partners

American Concert Hall Buildings

Dallas Buildings

Concert Hall Buildings

Texan buildings : Fort Worth

Annette Strauss Artist Square, Dallas
2008-
Foster + Partners

Texas Architecture



American Buildings by Foster + Partners - Selection:

Smithsonian Institution
Washington DC

photo : Nigel Young / Foster + Partners
Smithsonian Institute

Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, Massachussetts

photo from architect
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

Spaceport America
New Mexico

picture : Foster + Partners
American Spaceport

Hearst Tower
New York

photo : Andrew McRae
Hearst Tower New York

Comments / photos for the Dallas Opera House Architecture - AT&T Performing Arts Center Venue page welcome: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Winspear Opera House : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt

Website: www.attpac.org

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