The Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC) in Lower Manhattan – the final public piece of the 2003 masterplan to redevelop the World Trade Center site – officially opens in September 2023. Guided by the leadership of former mayor Michael Bloomberg, the new not-for-profit arts centre will celebrate the artists and audiences of New York City and the connections to be made between music, theatre, dance, opera and film, with a mission to demonstrate that the arts have the power to entertain, inspire and unite.
The final piece of the redeveloped World Trade Center site in New York, the cube-shaped Perelman Performing Arts Center features a thin Portuguese marble façade that appears solid by day but translucent by night
Perelman Performing Arts Center by REX
PAC NYC is housed in a building befitting a modern-day cultural keystone. Designed by New York-based firm Rex, and created in collaboration with executive architects Davis Brody Bond and theatre consultant Charcoalblue, who developed the initial brief, the 138ft-tall monolithic structure boasts an eye-catching marble façade that appears solid by day, but gives way to a translucent and luminous appearance by night. Made from thin slabs of veined Portuguese marble that have been laminated on both sides with glass, bookmatched and fabricated into insulated panels, the façade allows natural light to penetrate the space while still upholding the building’s energy performance.
Inside, PAC NYC is just as dynamic. Once past the lobby level, which features interiors and a Marcus Samuelsson-helmed restaurant designed by the Rockwell Group, the building’s theatre level holds three state-of-the-art performance spaces that can be used concurrently or in combination. Flanked by four vertical sliding walls that allow the space to be reconfigured while still maintaining acoustical separation, the three theatres can be adapted in more than ten different combinations, using both manual and mechanical systems. This is especially impressive in the Zuccotti Theater, where moveable seating towers easily transform the auditorium into various formations.
A version of this story appears in the October 2023 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
-
Detroit is booming – again. Here’s what’s behind the city’s new renaissanceOnce a poster child for urban renewal, Motor City’s experiencing a fresh wave of revitalisation. But what’s different this time around?
-
Niels van Roij Design's newest project is this perfectly tailored Rolls-Royce Shooting BrakeHenry II is a hand-crafted Shooting Brake created from a 1981 Rolls-Royce Corniche coupé. Commissioned by its long-standing owner, the car has been upgraded into a true grand tourer
-
The key takeaways from the S/S 2026 shows: freedom, colour and romance define fashion’s new chapterWe unpack the trends and takeaways from the S/S 2026 season, which saw fashion embrace a fresh start with free-spirited collections and a bold exploration of colour and form
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the USModernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
This perfectly cubed house sits atop a hill in Hudson ValleyForma’s ‘House on a Hill’ resembled a black wooden box – all straight lines and sharp angles against the rolling backdrop of New York State
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the marketNorton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in PhiladelphiaThe new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellingsWhile architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernismWe explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
