Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
- Architect
- Rafael Viñoly
- Year
- 2001
- Style
- Contemporary Modern
- City
- Philadelphia, PA
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2001 on Broad Street's Avenue of the Arts, designed by architect Rafael Viñoly and named for philanthropist Sidney Kimmel. It replaced the aging Academy of Music as the primary home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the country's 'Big Five' symphony orchestras, and now anchors a performing-arts campus alongside the Academy of Music and the Miller Theater under the same operator, Ensemble Arts.
the building
The vaulted glass roof. Viñoly's design is defined by a barrel-vaulted glass canopy arching over the building and visible from the street along Broad Street, sheltering the concert halls beneath it rather than enclosing them in a conventional masonry shell.
the style
Contemporary Modern (c. 1990–present): Today's default architecture: floor-to-ceiling glass, crisp panel facades, bold cantilevers, and mixed materials.
More on Contemporary Modernsignificance
The Kimmel Center is home to the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of America's 'Big Five' symphony orchestras. Its operator also runs the historic Academy of Music and, since November 2016, the Miller Theater (formerly the Merriam Theater), making the center the anchor of Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts.
nearby
- The University of the Arts
- Clarence B. Moore House
- Dr. Joseph Leidy House
- Academy of Music
- Drake Hotel
- Equitable Trust Building