New World Center

Atrium

"The atrium immediately conveys the feeling that New World Center is a place to be used and enjoyed. The floors are polished concrete, the walls are painted drywall, and the seating consists of baby-blue banquettes with plywood backing. A large, illuminated glass bar with an undulating, blue-tinted titanium canopy is situated at the back of lively, light-flooded space. The atrium also features Taboehan (2003), a monumental sculpture by artist Frank Stella. ...Taboehan is the only work of art permanently on view at New World Center." - Rose Hetherington, "New World Centre by Frank Gehry," pub. on dexeen, Jan. 26, 2011 (online March 2019)

"For now, if we venture inside, it becomes apparent that it’s the building interior, rather than the exterior, that boasts the curves and coils typically associated with Gehry’s architecture. The visitor is greeted with serpentine walkways and an astonishing, hovering jumble of strange, warping boxes—actually offices, rehearsal studios, practice rooms and other usable spaces. Their stark whiteness invokes that of South Beach’s many art deco buildings, but the smooth curvilinearity puts one in mind of the spaceship from 2001: A Space Odyssey." - Darryn King, "New World Center: Creating A Concert Hall That's Not Just About The Music," pub. on Forbes, May 6, 2018 (online March 2019)

Atrium - right side: Wall sculpture on right side of Atrium ... Frontal view below:

Atrium - right side: Taboehan

Atrium - right side: Note table and chairs designed Frank Gehry ... Detailed below:

Table and chairs designed Frank Gehry ... Polished concrete floor

Atrium - right side: Bar ... Blue hanging titanium canopy may represent waves(?) or fish(?)

Atrium - rear

Atrium - left side

Atrium - left side ...

"Mr. Thomas wanted to open the place up dramatically to the public. So the facade of this essentially rectangular building is a tall, beckoning wall of windows, showing the trademark Gehry cones, curves and flower-shaped constructions inside. On the ground level there are several soundproof, windowed rehearsal rooms and recording studios, where musicians from the orchestra will practice in full view of the public, which will be free to roam the atrium when the building is in use.

"Upstairs are two floors with ample private practice rooms, where the musicians will do most of their work. These rooms are equipped with interactive video screens, so fellows in the academy can be coached by master musicians and composers anywhere in the world. This kind of digital-age teaching has already been happening at the New World Symphony. But the new building, which has a state-of-the-art recording, projection and Web-casting infrastructure, will exponentially increase the capacity." - Anthony Tommasini, "Airy Home for Music and Its Fans, on The New York Times, January 26, 2011 (online March 2019) ... Note the staircase, detailed below:

Atrium - left side

Atrium - left side: View above the staircase

Atrium - left side

Atrium - left side: Gehry-designed table and chairs, detailed below:

Atrium - left side

Lobby - left side: Gehry-designed table and chairs, detailed below:

Lobby - left side: Gehry-designed table and chairs

Concert Hall

"The performance hall itself, another Gehry collaboration with Walt Disney Concert Hall acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, is a marvel. With only 756 seats (in beachy blue-and-white) in its default arrangement, it’s incredibly intimate; the audience is “in the music”, Gehry has said. Kritzeck’s sensitively expressive lighting permeates the space, along with natural light pouring in from an overhead skylight and a window behind the stage. Vast sails over the stage not only enhance the exemplary acoustics but double as projection surfaces for video or projections. Tellingly, the stage and seating is endlessly adaptable, able to be transformed into 14 distinct configurations for different kinds of performances." - Darryn King, "New World Center: Creating A Concert Hall That's Not Just About The Music, "pub. on Forbes, May 6, 2018 (online March 2019)

756-seat performance hall

"The concert hall would be one of the most flexible in the world with round seating, satellite stages, interchangeable main stage with 10 movable lifts and platforms to change configuration, and acoustic panels or sails that receive projection. The audience would be surrounded by music, would not be detached from it and the furthest seat from stage would be 13 rows away. The hall also has retractable seating to accommodate different events" - Ines Hagedus-Garcia, "Frank Gehry New World Symphony in Miami Beach is Almost Ready," on Miamism, November 16, 2010 (online March 2019)