Juilliard's first space to reopen after renovation, the June Noble Larkin Lobby is dedicated with a short ceremony on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 6 PM
Celebration also includes adjoining new spaces: Morse Student Lounge, Sidney R. Knafel Admissions Suite, and Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office
The Juilliard School celebrates the first of its renovated spaces to reopen with a ceremony dedicating the June Noble Larkin Lobby on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 6 PM, part of a major expansion and redesign of the building that began in Spring 2006. Several adjoining spaces that also are completed and already occupied will be celebrated as well. They are the Morse Student Lounge, Sidney R. Knafel Admissions Suite, and the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office. Both the Larkin and Knafel families will be in attendance at a dedication taking place in the lobby itself, followed by a preview of some remarkable Juilliard spaces for dance, jazz, and mixed-use productions, including music technology.
According to Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi, "The opening of the June Noble Larkin Lobby is the first physical manifestation of Juilliard's major renovation project, which has been in planning and construction stages for the past several years. It is particularly gratifying for the members of the Juilliard community that our new entryway is named after a person who has given so much of herself to this institution over the years. The spatial openness and natural light that are part of the Larkin Lobby create a welcoming environment that will positively influence our students, faculty, administrators and guests as they enter Juilliard every day."
For the first time since Juilliard has been located at Lincoln Center (1969) both the public and the Juilliard community can access all of the building’s theaters, classrooms, offices, and teaching studios through one entrance at 155 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam, via the June Noble Larkin Lobby. With the addition of a concierge position, and an expanded box office with up-to-the-minute LED information signage, the entrance’s main feature is a grand staircase, a modern evocation of the 1969 original. The staircase incorporates a community area with temporary seating for students and concert ticket holders. It leads to the formal reception area within the June Noble Larkin Lobby, from which all parts of Juilliard are accessible. There are additional gathering and seating areas in the lobby, and on that same level are located Paul Hall, the new Morse Student Lounge and Student Affairs Office, the Sidney R. Knafel Admissions Suite, Juilliard’s Evening Division and the path to Juilliard’s Meredith Willson Residence Hall. Elevators take visitors to the Stephanie P. McClelland Drama Theater and other soon-to-open performance spaces: the Glorya Kaufman Dance Studio and the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater. Two additional elevators run between street level and the June Noble Larkin Lobby, for those who don’t wish to use the stairs.
Juilliard’s original building was designed by architect Pietro Belluschi in the 1960s and is considered to be one of the best examples of Brutalism in the U.S. The renovation/expansion restores some of its lost architectural gestures and positions Juilliard for the future. The expansion adds an additional 39,000 square feet and in addition to the new lobby and box office, includes the black box theater, an orchestra rehearsal space with a recording studio, the large dance rehearsal studio, plus many smaller studios, rehearsal rooms, classrooms, administrative offices, lounges, a library expansion, and an archive for the Juilliard Manuscript Collection. It marks the first time that Juilliard Jazz will have specially designated space for its programs, within a building that was constructed originally for classical music, dance, and drama. The expansion on floors 3 – 5 pushes out from the 1969 Juilliard building, toward the property line on Broadway. That Broadway frontage now is clad in a shear glass façade that reveals a cross section of the building and the extensive activity within. And Juilliard is a very busy building: open from 8 AM until Midnight most days; housing four (soon-to-be five) theaters that are the sites of 700 dance, drama, and music performances by 750 students each season in addition to classes and lessons; and seating approximately 100,000 audience members annually.
The June Noble Larkin Lobby features terrazzo flooring, Knoll furniture, a security desk made from Muirapiranga or bloodwood, with stained ash veneer wall paneling. The Morse Student Lounge adds to the transparency of the Juilliard classroom building. Its exterior walls, also clad in glass, and the lounge area with computer access, encompass a multi-purpose room with audio-visual equipment for more formal meetings.
Designed by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, the architectural team consists of three DS+R principals; DS+R Associate Partner Robert Condon, AIA, is the project leader, and Ben Mickus, AIA, is the project manager. FxFowle is DS+R’s associate architect, and Silvia Smith, AIA, is the principal-in-charge.
The June Noble Larkin Lobby dedication ceremony on October 20 is followed by an exclusive preview of other new Juilliard spaces, including the large dance rehearsal studio, named the Glorya Kaufman Dance Studio and overlooking Broadway (to be completed December 2008/January 2009); the black box theater, named the Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater (to be completed February 2009); and the Jazz Suite.
The rejuvenated lobby is named for June Noble Larkin, who served as Juilliard’s first woman chairman from 1985 until 1994. During her tenure, she spearheaded the campaign that raised more than $25 million to construct the School’s Meredith Willson Residence Hall, which opened to students in 1990. She also has been a supporter of Juilliard Jazz, through the Edward John Noble Foundation. Enid and Lester S. Morse, Jr. have established Juilliard’s Morse Fellowship Program that is a model for arts-in-educations program. In addition, they provided funding for one of Juilliard’s intimate performance halls, named for them. Mr. Morse has been a member of Juilliard’s Board of Trustees since 1992. Sidney R. Knafel began his support of Juilliard in 1979, with the creation of an endowed scholarship in his alumnus father’s name, and has created two others since. He has been a Juilliard Trustee since 2004.
The Juilliard School established this country’s standard for education in the performing arts, beginning with music in 1905. In 1951, its Dance Division was established, with combined training in contemporary and ballet technique. Juilliard became part of Lincoln Center in 1968, and added a four-year drama program. A residence hall – the School’s first – was completed in 1990, and in 2001, Juilliard broke new ground with the addition of its first jazz program. a graduate program in Historical Performance begins in Fall 2009, the same year that Juilliard inaugurates its partnership with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. More than 800 young artists from 44 states (plus Washington, DC) and 46 foreign countries attend Juilliard. For more information, visit Juilliard’s Web site at www.juilliard.edu.