WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL
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Disney Hall takes shape during the early building stages. |
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The Walt Disney Concert Hall became
the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic
in October 2003. It is one of the
most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the
world as well an internationally recognized architectural
landmark.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic is known as one of
the world's outstanding orchestras. It was founded in
1919 and is currently lead by Esa-Pekka Salonen who
became the Philharmonic's tenth music director in 1992.
In 1987, the late Lillian Disney contributed
$50 million to build a new music venue for the Los Angeles
Philharmonic to compete with the best concert halls
in the world. Renowned architect Frank Gehry was selected
to design the building in 1988 and revealed the design
in 1991. However, due to funding delays, construction
of the hall didn't begin until late 1999. Although Gehry's
Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which has a similar
design, was built before then, the design for Walt Disney
Concert Hall was conceived first.
The building site is 3.6 acres, a
full city block at the intersection of First Street
and Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The complex
is 293,000 square feet, and the structure is one of
the most technically advanced in the world. Its curved
stainless steel exterior and lack of right angles made
its construction a challenge. Because no architectural
software or blueprint program exists that could translate
his design, Frank Gehry used a French computer program
that was developed for the aerospace and automotive
industries called the Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional
Interactive Application (CATIA).
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The Los Angeles Philharmonic's new home is attracting international praise for its architectural design. |
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The main auditorium is 2,265 seats and was designed by Gehry in collaboration with acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota. The "vineyard" design places the conductor and orchestra in the middle of the hall so the audience surrounds the performers. The curved ceiling and walls are made of Douglas fir. A pipe organ is placed in a central position at the rear of the stage. It was designed by Gehry and organ designer Manuel Rosales.
The complex also includes other performance spaces. A large foyer can accommodate 600 people for pre-concert events, lectures, and banquets. The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) is a 250-seat multi-use theatre and art gallery run by the California Institute of the Arts. Two outdoor amphitheaters, the 300-seat Keck Children's Amphitheater and another seating 120, will present additional programs.
The Walt Disney Concert Hall includes amenities available to visitors who are not attending performances but wish to see the complex. The street-level lobby is open to pedestrians and includes a gift shop, restaurant, café, box office, and access to the underground public parking structure. Also on site is an urban garden designed by Melinda Taylor and Lawrence Reed Moline. It includes a fountain designed by Frank Gehry in honor of Lillian Disney. The fountain is shaped like a rose, Mrs. Disney's favorite flower, and is covered with mosaic made from pieces of Delft China, in tribute to her extensive Delft China collection.
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