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Bilbao On the Hudson
by Beth E. Wilson

Soft-brushed stainless steel, transparent passages of glass,
raw concrete, blond, warm-toned wood. Throughout the new Fisher Performing Arts Center at Bard College, designed by internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry, the aesthetic language of materials enunciates itself clearly and distinctly.

The magic of a Gehry building, as has been internationally known since the opening of his mammoth Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, derives from his choreography of swooping, arcing, tumbling expanses of roof and wall, which implicitly contradicts everything you thought you knew about architecture. Normally buildings are supposed to be solid and sound-think of the stability of the Parthenon, even in its ruined state, or the reassuring regularity of brick and mortar walls. But in this new performing arts center, surprises around every corner transform the experience of architecture from the confirmation of expectation to one of perpetual revelation.

The classic Modernist ethos of Mies von der Rohe and the Bauhaus proclaimed that "form follows function." The design process for the building began at precisely this point-as Lynn Pilon, the theater specialist on the design team put it, "an architect's best asset is a client who knows what they want." Gehry and his team consulted extensively with the faculty and others at Bard to determine exactly how they wanted to use the new building, designing it literally from the inside out.

At the core of the project-Gehry's first performing arts center and his first major building on the East Coast-are the 900-seat Sosnoff Theater for larger, more formal events, and a smaller, 300-seat black box theater for student and more experimental productions. The smaller theater serves as a point of convergence for the "academic wing," including an array of dance studios, practice rooms, classrooms, and offices, which will be the new home for Bard's Dance and Theater departments.

Planning for the facility began in earnest four years ago, and the consultation considered everything from high ceilings and lighting flexibility to the creation of a lobby where students could comfortably hang out between classes. "We wanted to preserve the positive qualities of our current space, while introducing new things like air conditioning and greater technical adaptability. The solutions [that Gehry's team found] are spectacular," explains Jean Churchill, chair of the Dance Department.

The centerpiece of the entire building is the Sosnoff Theater, which displays the essential functionality of Gehry's design. The 80 x 40-foot stage features a hydraulically adjustable platform that allows its use as a) an orchestra pit, b) additional orchestra seating, or c) an extension of the main stage. In collaboration with acoustical designer Yasuhisa Toyota, Gehry has created a space that provides unexpected intimacy for an audience of 900. The theater itself is shaped like a lyre rather than a shoe box, emphasizing the vertical volume of the space in order to allow proper reverberation of the sound, and bringing the audience into a much closer proximity to the performers. The walls and floor of the theater are raw, poured concrete, a cool presence that contrasts with the warm Douglas fir of the seats and faceted balconies. Filigree of the same wood loops across the concrete walls, energizing the interior visually while also perfecting the acoustics of the concrete.

Other innovations prevent the sort of compromises normally required to use a single space for dance, drama, and music. A multi-part, sculptural concert shell can be installed on the stage for chamber concerts, or wheeled off to the wings for storage during other types of performances. The enormous "fly"-the cavernous, boxy space over the stage that allows for raising and lowering of scenery, curtains, and the like-includes a flexible system of large, wing-like lighting panels that complete the concert shell, can be used on their own, or that can simply be rotated vertically and lifted out of the way when not needed.
* The seating, simple yet comfortable, was designed by Gehry himself, using molded plywood and dark blue upholstery that features a list of names in tan block capitals. At first I wasn't quite sure who the names referred to-were they musicians? composers? historically significant people of whom I've never heard? Maybe so-but not just yet. The names were drawn at random from the Bard registrar's list of students due to graduate this spring. Bard President Leon Botstein, in consultation with the architect, decided that instead of dedicating this aspect of the space to commemorating famous artists, it would be more appropriate to remember the otherwise anonymous audience members, without whom no performance can take place. And in a facility that is integrally connected to the educational mission of the college, it seemed appropriate to pay homage to the Class of 2003, graduating just as the building opens, as its first audience.

The Sosnoff Theater will be inaugurated with a gala concert on April 25, featuring a performance of Mahler's Third Symphony by the American Symphony Orchestra. At noon on the 26th there will be a free panel discussion including Leon Botstein, Frank Gehry, Yasuhisa Toyota, Bard faculty members, and others involved in realizing this project, which should provide the public with a glimpse into the creative process and some of the many unique features of the building. A series of other performances, ranging from theater to the Ballet Hispanico, Elvis Costello, and the Charles Mingus Orchestra round out the first two weekends' opening festivities.

The opening of this complex arrives as the start of a new wave of cultural activity rolls up the Hudson Valley, marking a new phase of development for the region. The exposed, twisting, postmodern/post-industrial steel skeleton under the Gehry building's innovative, computer-designed canopy can be seen as an intriguing material history of the economic history of the area. Manufacturing, the original economic engine of the region, began to decline after World War II and was ultimately displaced by the computer industry, represented most prominently here by IBM. With the burst of the dot-com bubble and the precipitous decline of the information economy, it seems it is now up to the arts to spin straw into gold-and time will tell if the presence of such intense, aesthetically driven endeavors will change the fabric of daily life for the local communities that exist alongside them.

-Beth E. Wilson

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND/OR TICKETS TO THE OPENING FESTIVITIES, go to www.bard.edu/fishercenter or call 758-7900.