Winspear Opera House

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Project Name: Winspear Opera House
Construction year: 2009
Website: www.dallasopera.org
Address: 2403 Flora Street , DALLAS-TEXAS - United States

Architect(s) : Foster and Partners (www.fosterandpartners.com)
Project Category: Cultural

Latitude: 32.7908
Longitude: -96.7975

Winspear Opera House

The new Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House in Dallas redefines the opera house for the 21st century, breaking down barriers to make opera more accessible for a wider audience.

Responding to the Dallas climate, a solar canopy extends from the building, shading a fully glazed, sixty-foot-tall lobby which enhances the transparency of the building.

This establishes a direct relationship between inside and outside, creating greater accessibility and thus a more democratic building.

Beneath the canopy, which forms an integral part of the environmental strategy, a shaded pedestrian plaza creates a major new public space for Dallas, as defined by the masterplan designed by Foster + Partners and OMA for the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

"This project is about the creation of a building that offers a truly democratic experience of opera for the 21st century," said Norman Foster.

"We wanted to create a sense of immediacy - from the moment you step into the external plaza to the opening of the curtain - and we wanted the auditorium to be expressed on the outside, the red glass drum is a symbol of performance, the glowing heart of the entire AT&T Performing Arts Center."

Contributed by ArchiTeam