On Eve On 9/11's 15th Anniversary, The WTC's Performing Arts Center Unveiled To Public

Almost 15 years after the 9/11 attacks, designs for the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center were unveiled yesterday. Expected to open in 2020, the Center will host theater, dance, music, film, opera and the Tribeca Film Festival.

Designed by NYC-based firm REX with help from theater consultants Charcoalblue, the center seeks to be the most flexible, technologically advanced and digitally connected creative performance space in the world. Wrapped in translucent veined marble (from the same quarry as the Jefferson Memorial and the US Supreme Court) and laminated with insulated glass, the appearance of the 90k SF center changes over the course of the day, appearing as a graceful stone behemoth during the day, with shadows of human movement and theatrics animating the walls at nights.

The center will have three levels (public, performer and play), three auditoriums (99 seats, 250 seats and 499 seats) and a rehearsal room that can also act as a stage.

The auditoriums can also be transformed and combined into 11 different arrangements that can hold up to 1,200 people. REX principal Joshua Prince-Ramus called the center “a mystery box.”

The center—considered the final piece of Daniel Libeskind’s plan for the 16-acre site—has been in the works for more than a decade, but had several milestones in the last few months, including a $75M donation from board member and benefactor Ronald Perelman. The building is expected to cost $243M. 

The Center’s board of directors and president/direct Maggie Boepple also announced Barbra Streisand as the center’s new chairperson, joining the likes of Silverstein Properties chairman Larry Silverstein and Walt Disney Co COO Zunia Mucha.