Last weekend saw a series of events to mark the opening of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, designed by Rafael Viñoly. The building plays strongly on the “hard” exterior made of bricks and render, with a solemn entrance framed by glass walls and charcoal grey granite, and an elegant interior made up chiefly of views of the city, where the main emphasis is on the music.

The main entrance is on Broad Street (a block of the Academy of Music which previously held the orchestra and where the ballet company and opera will be based). The central piazza is occupied by two separate buildings: the Perelman Theater (650 seats for theatre productions) and the Verizon Hall (with 2500 seats).

The former is held within a tall tower at the left of the main entrance: a square shaped structure on a circular base in black marble clad in gold coloured corrugated aluminium panels, on top of which is glass covered a public garden. The Verizon Hall is the heart of Kimmel, contained within a polygonal screen which takes the form of the biomorphic shape of the hall itself. The external walls are clad in patterned dark timber panels.

https://www.kimmelcenter.org