observer.com/2022/09/david-geffen-hall-furthers-lincoln-centers-uniquely-stunning-architectural-history/

David Geffen Hall Furthers Lincoln Center’s Uniquely Stunning Architectural History

Soon to be opened to the public on October 8, Lincoln Center’s new David Geffen Hall further cements its architectural reputation.

By Annie Levin for The Observer • 09/29/22 12:26pm

The grid is meant to have the same scattering effect that in a traditional European concert hall is created by dense ornamentation. According to Scarbrough, the architects and acousticians looked at the pilasters, moldings, and sculptures in concert halls like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Musikverein in Vienna and studied how much of the wall surfaces were flat and how much were layered to guide the different levels of articulation in the grid. In this way they are creating similar diffusions of sound at similar frequency ranges to a traditional hall.

Gary McCluskie is the principal architect at Diamond Schmitt Architects, which in 2015 won an international competition to redesign the hall. He told the Observer that they took inspiration from sound waves in the design of the articulated grid. “In the way that architecture is sometimes thought of as frozen music we were literally thinking of ways in which both the material in the wood and the shaping of that architecture could have a musical character,” McCluskie told the Observer.

From the warm brown beech wood walls to the brass and bronze railings along the balconies, the architects drew their inspiration from musical instruments. “The concert hall itself is a big musical instrument,” McCluskie told the Observer. “It is the way in which all the different sounds of the orchestra are blended together.”

This idea that the Philharmonic and its audience is nestled inside the body of a huge violin is lovely, and yet the space is more conceptually interesting than visually arresting. The grid along the sidewalls struck me less like soundwaves and more like a giant Excel spreadsheet. Which isn’t to say that it’s not beautiful, in its way. We belong to a culture that knows how to create beautiful spreadsheets. Likewise, the twisted ribbons of wood over the digital organ loft are impressively grand, and yet reminiscent of paper that’s gone through an office shredder. These elements lead me to wonder if the architects were inspired more by the objects in their offices, or by conference rooms and convention centers, than by musical instruments and concert halls.

The beech wood walls create a loungey mid century aura, in keeping with the historic aesthetics of the Lincoln Center campus. Yet, the paneling is also reminiscent of many elementary school auditoriums, last renovated in the ‘60s or ‘70s. At the Metropolitan Opera, whimsical anachronisms are lovingly preserved in their glorious opera meets disco decor. However, the rather masculine minimalism of Geffen Hall doesn’t match up. This is in part due to the disconnect between the architecture and the furnishings.

The minimalism of the hall is contrasted with the décor of the upholstered seats and redesigned lobby. The floral motif of the seating was created by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and mimics the rose murals in the sumptuous new lobby. They are meant to suggest petals falling from the ceiling, with splashes of red, pink, and purple petals in patterns that vary from seat to seat. It’s a playful design in an architectural space that’s deadly serious. The combination of floral decadence and architectural sparseness looks like a clownish error. I viewed the space during a rehearsal without an audience or theatrical lighting so perhaps this effect will be transformed or mitigated during performance. However, from what I saw, compensating for the room’s minimal three-dimensional ornament with a profusion of petals gives an overstuffed and garish look to the furnishings. Where separately elegant, in combination they are discomfiting, probably unintentionally so.

That being said, David Geffen Hall will most likely be a great space for listening to classical music. 500 seats smaller than Avery Fisher Hall, it is an intimate, focused, and meditative space. There is no proscenium, and the orchestra is brought deeper into the audience, the eyes of audience members drawn to the stage by the curved balcony tiers and the grid along the sidewalls.   

The seats are democratic, with the stage decently visible even from the back of the third tier. The most delightful aspect of the hall might be the choral balcony, which will be open to audience members when a choir isn’t in use, allowing the orchestra to be viewed in the round. Audiences will be able to see orchestral performances with the conductor facing them. They will be closer to the timpani and woodwinds and the sound of the orchestra will present differently in these very special seats.

Like its predecessor, Avery Fisher/Philharmonic Hall, David Geffen Hall is meant to last for a generation. It is meant to accommodate the transforming orchestral music world for a century to come. Given its geographical placement, it may well be the last big renovation the Lincoln Center campus sees. The bone white island could easily be underwater when next in need of major refurbishment. David Geffen Hall’s spare yet intimate swan song to Lincoln Center’s golden era is charming, thoughtful, and a little sad. Third go around, after sixty years of trying, they’ve hopefully gotten the acoustics right and created an excellent space for playing and listening to music. I hope for the sake of the future of classical music globally that they will be able to fill this hall with audiences of all ages for a generation to come.