New York structure studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro has been chosen to renovate the Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, Texas, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) will restore the unique construction designed by Wright in 1959 as his first and solely standalone theatre – which has since had a sequence of additives added and has fallen right into a state of disrepair.
“Certainly, through the years, a mixture of neglect and additions have compromised the constructing’s integrity,” stated DS+R partner-in-charge Charles Renfro.
“Restoring the Kalita Humphreys Theater to its unique state requires a multifaceted strategy that entails surgical extraction, selective reconstruction, cautious preservation, and devoted reinterpretation of Wright’s design intent.”
Wright’s unique construction comprised a roughly pentagonal construction with clean edges topped by a round massing. Within the late Nineteen Sixties, a foyer was added to the unique that, based on Renfro, “compromised the unique massing of the constructing”.
DS+R will renovate the unique constructing, eradicating components of the foyer addition and extracting different “superfluous components” added in many years because the constructing was accomplished.
Modifications can even be made to the theatre itself, refurbishing it to resemble nearer Wright’s imaginative and prescient for the theatre by repositioning the seating within the auditorium and enhancing AV and back-of-house services.
“In an effort to safeguard the way forward for the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the undertaking should not solely restore but additionally renovate the theater to help the wants of latest artists and audiences,” stated Renfro.
The plans additionally embody the renovation of the grounds surrounding the theatre. This contains enhancements to the landscaping in addition to the addition of buildings to enhance the inventive programming of the property.
Wright’s unique design referenced the limestone bluffs that after lined the location, however these pure options have since been eliminated to make manner for parking tons and different infrastructural components.
“Whereas the bluffs eliminated as a part of the 1968 addition are irrecoverable, a frivolously reshaped panorama will echo the unique topography of the location,” stated Renfro.
“Invasive bamboo might be eliminated in favor of native grasses and shrubs, serving to to manage erosion and take up runoff throughout more and more intense climactic occasions.”
The landscaping might be carried out to higher join the theatre with the adjoining park that flanks the Turtle Creek waterway.
Alongside the landscaped pathways, the studio plans on implementing a set of pavilions of assorted capabilities, all constructed to reference the dimensions and type of the theatre.
These will embody a black-box theatre of a “walkable ceiling grid and an operable facade”, a multi-purpose area meant for academic programming and a rehearsal “tower”.
All the buildings might be produced from mass timber, which DS + R stated might be sourced from native producers. The timber will act as a “heat and natural counterpoint to the mineral palette of the unique theater constructing” stated Renfro.
Based in 1981, DS+R has accomplished initiatives all through america and internationally together with the Prior Efficiency Artwork for the Faculty of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
Not too long ago, co-founder Elizabeth Diller defined the strategies and concepts behind iconic the Broad museum in Los Angeles in an unique Dezeen video.
