The nearly completed Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona, designed by Architekton and Barton Myers Associates, Inc., stands near Tempe Town Lake.
Tempe ยท 2007.0829
The Tempe Center for the Arts nears completion in Tempe, Arizona. The $65.7 million project is a collaboration between Architekton of Tempe and Barton Myers Associates, Inc. of Los Angeles. The 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) facility includes a 600-seat proscenium theater, 200-seat studio theater, 3,400-square-foot (320-square-meter) art gallery, and 3,000-square-foot (280-square-meter) multipurpose room.
The design draws inspiration from Pueblo Bonito, an Anasazi Great House at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. The different rooms within the building are like kivas, the main lobby forms a central gathering space, and the connecting corridors and lobbies act like streets and plazas. The building’s form was inspired by the rock formations in Monument Valley, in northern Arizona and southern Utah. An extensive sculptural shed roof shelters the interior thermally and acoustically.
Located on Tempe Town Lake, on a 25.5-acre (10.3-hectare) former brownfield landfill site, the project also includes a sculpture garden. An artistic water feature funnels rainwater to the nearby riverbed. The Los Angeles, California, office of Arup served as structural engineer, lighting designer, and mechanical, electrical, and plumping engineer. The opening is scheduled for September 7.
http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0829/people_and_places.html
