flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Gothic-style dance center breaks ground at University of Southern California

Gothic-style dance center breaks ground at University of Southern California

The Dance Center will be the first new school on the campus in 40 years 


By Pfeiffer Partners Architects  | April 24, 2014
Ground was broken on April 23 for the new Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center on the University of Southern California campus. Named for the donor, philanthropist Glorya Kaufman, the Center will be a home for dance education on the West Coast and the Pacific Rim. The endowment will fund the building and establish a bachelor of fine arts program combining dance instruction with business training and a liberal arts education.
 
Pfeiffer Partners is designing the building for the school, the first new school on the campus in 40 years, beginning with a concept design, a feasibility study and programming. The design team, USC faculty and leadership of the new school are working together to craft a new facility that physically and aesthetically connects to the rest of campus and reflects the University’s master plan goals and aspirations for the new school. The program for the three-story building will include a dance/performance studio, five dance studios, instructional classrooms, performer support spaces, costume storage, and faculty and administrative offices. The project also includes a significant outdoor courtyard in which the campus community can meet, interact and study in an environment that fosters creativity and innovation in teaching and dance. 
 
Prominently located near the Thornton School of Music, on West 34th Street at Watt Way, will function as a key transitional building from the main campus to the future university village being developed across Jefferson Boulevard. The center’s proximity to downtown Los Angeles’ Music Center, where Kaufman has sponsored several dance performances, will strengthen the whole area’s draw as a cultural destination.
 
One primary goal of the design is to achieve a contemporary building that reflects the University’s historic architectural precedents, rooted in Romanesque traditions and Collegiate Gothic style, with authenticity rather than mimicry of the past. Conceptually, the design presents a dynamic, highly contemporary dance facility clothed in tradition. 
 
 
“The building derives its strengths from the principles of traditional Gothic architecture, but is also inspired by Venetian Gothic vernacular. The building’s massing is broken into its components: five major dance studios and a dance performance room, which is expressed in the architecture of the fenestration and hierarchy of forms; large Gothic arched openings introduce generous amounts of natural light into the spaces as well as create monumental openings for major and minor entries into the building. The skin of the building will be Roman brick with large expanses articulated with a diaper pattern. The building’s floor-to-ceiling windows and detailed articulation of precast concrete will extend the richness of the campus’ architectural language to the street for the first time along Jefferson Boulevard,” explains Project Director William Murray, AIA, Principal with Pfeiffer Partners. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Related Stories

Giants 400 | Feb 1, 2023

2022 Cultural Facilities Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. cultural facilities sector

Populous, DLR Group, KPFF, Arup, and Turner Construction head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report. Building types include museums, public libraries, performing arts centers, and concert venues.

Libraries | Jan 13, 2023

One of the world’s largest new libraries opens in Shanghai

Designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, Shanghai Library East covers more than 1.2 million sf, 80% of it dedicated to community activity.

Performing Arts Centers | Dec 23, 2022

Diller Scofidio + Renfro's renovation of Dallas theater to be ‘faithful reinterpretation’ of Frank Lloyd Wright design

Diller Scofidio + Renfro recently presented plans to restore the Kalita Humphreys Theater at the Dallas Theater Center (DTC) in Dallas. Originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, this theater is the only freestanding theater in Wright’s body of work.

Sports and Recreational Facilities | Dec 15, 2022

Community centers reinforce a town or city’s sense of place

The intersection of a community with its natural surroundings is one key to a successful design of community centers, according to a new 24-page paper titled “Creating a Wellness Culture,” about the benefits of this building type, cowritten by HMC Architects’ Civic Practice Leader Kyle Peterson, and Director of Design James Krueger, who used three of their firm’s recent projects to buttress their thesis.

Museums | Oct 25, 2022

Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion emphasizes human connection to oceans

Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion, currently under construction, features several exhibits that examine the human connection with the Earth’s oceans.

Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022

Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022

CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022

Top 200 Contractors for 2022

Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Whiting-Turner, and DPR Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest general contractors, CM at risk firms, and design-builders for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022

Top 45 Engineering Architecture Firms for 2022

Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Burns & McDonnell top the rankings of the nation's largest engineering architecture (EA) firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022

Top 80 Engineering Firms for 2022

Kimley-Horn, Tetra Tech, Langan, and NV5 head the rankings of the nation's largest engineering firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.

Giants 400 | Aug 21, 2022

Top 110 Architecture/Engineering Firms for 2022

Stantec, HDR, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category

Cultural Facilities

Multipurpose sports facility will be first completed building at Obama Presidential Center

When it opens in late 2025, the Home Court will be the first completed space on the Obama Presidential Center campus in Chicago. Located on the southwest corner of the 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, the Home Court will be the largest gathering space on the campus. Renderings recently have been released of the 45,000-sf multipurpose sports facility and events space designed by Moody Nolan.




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021