David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
Fact Sheet

Project Description:

The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, a vibrant new public visitors’ and ticketing facility housing the Donald and Barbara Zucker Box Office, is home to an array of programs, services, and amenities designed to welcome, inform, and entertain local residents, the general public, and the thousands of people who visit Lincoln Center and its surrounding community every day.

The David Rubenstein Atrium, formerly known as the Harmony Atrium, is one of approximately 503 Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) in New York City created under a longstanding program that offers zoning incentives for buildings to provide accessible public spaces.

The Atrium also serves as a gateway to the entire Lincoln Center campus, offering day-of-discount tickets at the Zucker Box Office to available performances across the campus, as well as access to full-price tickets via onsite kiosks and telephone service. Among the other numerous services housed in the new public space for the arts will be:

• A community gathering place for lingering with plenty of places to sit
• Free weekly performances
• Food service from Chef Tom Colicchio’s ‘wichcraft café
• The starting point for guided tours of the Lincoln Center campus
• Restrooms
• A staffed Information Desk
• A destination for free Wi-Fi access

The Tod Williams Billie Tsien design reflects a respect for the materials used throughout Lincoln Center and will achieve an open, accessible, and inviting environment that is an essential goal of redevelopment for the 16-acre campus. The Atrium has applied to be the first LEED certified, “green” building on the Lincoln Center campus.

The facility is named in honor of the philanthropist, financier, and Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing arts in recognition of his $10 million gift to the Bravo Campaign for redevelopment.

Location:

Broadway between 62nd & 63rd Sts.

Architects:

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Design Team:

Michael Bierut, Pentagram Graphic & Dynamic Media Design
Paul Marantz, Fisher Marantz Stone (Lighting Design)
Ove Arup and Partners (Structural and MEP Consulting)
Laurent Corradi, Vertical Garden Technology (Vertical Gardens)
Claudy Jongstra (Felt wall art installation)

Key Dates:

November 19, 2009 — Free performances at the Atrium begin with the launch of Target Free Thursdays
December 17, 2009 — David Rubenstein Atrium officially opens to the public
January 7, 2010 — Discount ticket program is launched with opening of Donald and Barbara Zucker Box Office

Dimensions:

7,000 gross square feet

Conceptual Design Highlights:

Award-winning architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have transformed an underutilized, indoor space into a welcoming public space and visitors center where natural elements meet man-made ones, and artistic flourishes co-exist with a streamlined design aesthetic. Among the highlights:

• Two 21’ high vertical gardens with a variety of living plants, surrounded by comfortable seating to create an indoor garden sanctuary;
• A floor-to-ceiling fountain incorporating streams of water that fall into a small basin, surrounded on three sides by dark blue Pietra Luna Stone;
• A media wall and 42 foot-wide film screen that displays visitor and Lincoln Center performance information, and serves as a canvas for film and curated video presentations;
• Two felt wall installations, each approximately 100 feet wide, by noted Dutch textile artisan Claudy Jongstra;
• 16 architecturally distinctive “occuli” lighting fixtures that bring natural light and state-of-the-art illumination into the Atrium’s interior

Free Performances:

The inclusion of a removable stage enables the space to be used as a venue for all types of musical and spoken word performances. Target Free Thursdays, a series of free weekly performances, are drawn from community arts organizations as well as from Lincoln Center’s acclaimed resident organizations, reflecting the rich cultural history of the Lincoln Square neighborhood and of the Atrium. In addition, Meet the Artist Saturdays offer a one-hour, family-friendly show on the first Saturday of every month.

History:

The Atrium site has long been associated with the performing arts, beginning in 1905 when the Colonial Music Hall opened at 62nd Street and Broadway. Designed in the style of a Victorian music hall, the Colonial first served as a venue for musicals and vaudeville acts, then evolved to feature only vaudeville acts including the reigning dance team of Fred and Adele Astaire. It was at the Colonial that Charlie Chaplin was first introduced to American audiences. Renamed the New Colonial, it was converted to a Broadway theater in the twenties where the 1923 show Runnin’ Wild introduced America to the dance craze, The Charleston.

Subsequently, the Colonial served as a movie house in the thirties and forties, and as a TV studio for both NBC and ABC from 1956 to 1971. In the early seventies, philanthropist Rebekah Harkness bought the Colonial, renamed it the Harkness Theater, and renovated the space for use by her acclaimed ballet company and school. In the late seventies, the school closed and the theater was torn down, replaced by condominiums and a public plaza.

The Harmony Atrium was originally conceived as a lively gathering place for local residents as well as visitors, with city-mandated amenities that included a free one-hour musical performance each week and food service. When completed, the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center will once again fulfill this original vision.