The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is a landmark on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. When the Krannert Center opened in 1969 it was widely held to be the finest collegiate performing art center in the world. While the existing facility maintains a premiere status, new technologies and emerging interdisciplinary initiatives present a tremendous opportunity for the University of Illinois to again take the stage by expanding both the facilities and scope of the Krannert Center in visionary new directions. This project proposed a reinvention of the Krannert Center: broadening in scope beyond the performing arts, pushing beyond the limits of the existing building, and placing greater emphasis on experimental, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary endeavors while providing additional space for the study and reinterpretation of traditional performance types.

To this end, Krannert Center is reconceived as a campus of buildings for the arts, extending from a new Museum of the Arts (incorporating both visual and performing arts collections) on Nevada between Matthews and Goodwin, east to the School of Music buildings, north to the existing Krannert Center facility (tentatively renamed the Abramovitz Building in honor of its architect, a distinguished alumnus), and north again across Illinois Street to the 5 new theaters in the North Building (2 cinemas, a courtyard-style theater, a Broadway-style auditorium, and an experimental theater), conference facilities, new buildings for Dance and Cinema Studies, and a Center for Performance Technology, which puts the backstage functions in full view in an open-plan glass pavilion. The network of buildings is connected with a series of architectural connections (both interior and exterior) but most importantly, it must be connected visually and conceptually to form the new Krannert Center.

The project is equally integrated with the fabric of the University of Illinois campus. To the north, a new facility is provided for the Center for Advanced Study, placing some of the most distinguished minds on campus in close proximity to the Krannert’s extraordinary facilities. Additionally, a pedestrian bridge connects across Green Street to the engineering and science areas. To the west, a multipurpose parking garage, incorporating ground-level retail and a new campus visitors center anchor a new Gateway Plaza at Lincoln and Illinois. To the east, the prominent visual and pedestrian link between the Abramovitz Building and the main quad is maintained. to the south, the Museum of the Arts serves as a link in an Arts Corridor continuing south through the campus.

ARCH 571, Fall 2005, Professor Thomas A. Kamm