David Geffen Hall (New York City, New York)

5-story modernist concert hall completed in 1962 as the Philharmonic Hall. Designed by Max Abramovitz (of the firm of Harrizon & Abramovitz), it became one of the first buildings to be completed on the Lincoln Center site and home to one of its first resident organizations, the world-renowned New York Philharmonic, the oldest symphony orchestra in the U.S. The 2,738-seat venue was originally named Philharmonic Hall and was renamed Avery Fisher Hall in honor of philanthropist Avery Fisher, who donated $10.5 million ($58 million today) to the orchestra in 1973. In November 2014, Lincoln Center officials announced Fisher's name would be removed from the Hall so that naming rights could be sold to the highest bidder as part of a $500 million fund-raising campaign to refurbish the Hall. In 2015, the hall was renamed David Geffen Hall after Geffen donated $100 million to the Lincoln Center.

The first of Lincoln Center's buildings to be completed, Philharmonic Hall opened September 23, 1962, to mixed reviews. The concert, featuring Leonard Bernstein, the New York Philharmonic, and a host of operatic stars such as Eileen Farrell and Robert Merrill, was televised live on CBS. Management made several attempts to remedy the induced acoustical problems, with little success, leading to a substantial 1970s renovation designed by acoustician Cyril Harris in conjunction with project architect Philip Johnson. It included demolishing the hall's interior, selling its pipe organ to California's Crystal Cathedral, and rebuilding a new auditorium within the outer framework and facade. While initial reaction to the improvements was favorable and some advocates remained steadfast, overall feelings about the new hall's sound soured and acoustics there continued to be problematic.

David Geffen Hall is used today for many events, both musical and non-musical. As part of its Great Performers series, Lincoln Center presents visiting orchestras in David Geffen Hall, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre. The PBS series Live from Lincoln Center also features performances from the Hall.

Like the other Lincoln Center buildings, the hall is clad in travertine, with an arcade of piers projecting forward on its main facade, facing onto the plaza. The piers, which grow more slender at the tops and bottoms, organize the facade into nine equal bays. The wall behind the arcade has its own travertine piers separating walls of glass in each bay. A 2nd-floor balcony extends out from the recessed facade to the front piers. At the east end of the arcade extends a long canopy of glass and metal, over a ramp down to Columbus Avenue. The two, long metal girders of the canopy (which flare out towards the far end) are supported by a pair of bent metal columns about halfway out; the columns angle slightly inwards toward each other and then zag outwards towards the top, where they meet the canopy. A glass railing also lines the north side of the ramp, where there are two very tall flagpoles. A matching canopy extends from the very similar Koch Theater to the south.

The east and west facades have are 12 bays wide, with tripartite division in the glass bays between the piers, formed by metal mullions. At the top floor each bay is very slightly arched. The rear, north facade has nine bays like the south facade, but without the projecting arcade. A wide set of stairs at the west end leads up from 65th Street to the Hearst Plaza.

In 1992, under the tenure of Kurt Masur with the New York Philharmonic, several solid maple wood convex surfaces were installed on the side walls and suspended from the ceiling of the stage to improve acoustics. The maple was specially selected to minimize its grain pattern. The new components are filled with fiberglass to deaden vibrations. A new interior was rebuilt in 2022 by Tod Williams & Billie Tsien with Diamond Schmitt Architects of Toronto.

www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/arts/music/david-geffen-hall...

 concert hall1962_constructionModern (architecture)