The story told by the arts in America is also Orlando's story - a tale of many people coming together, from diverse backgrounds and with divergent interests, to create a community that enriches the lives of all.
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On Friday, August 22, 2008 the Central Florida community celebrated the design unveiling of the 330,000-square-foot Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center in the heart of downtown Orlando. The influences that inspired the forward-thinking design came from the city itself, its surroundings and the energy of the people that live here.
DPAC's design architect, Barton Myers and Associates, working with local architects HKS, Inc. and Baker Barrios Architects, has designed a number of world-class performing arts centers, including New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and the recently completed Tempe Center for the Arts. Lead design architect Barton Myers himself has designed performing arts centers since 1973. The firm's designs have received prestigious architectural accolades and are considered among the finest in the world.
The collective team intimately observed and researched the city of Orlando and its surroundings. They toured dozens of facilities and landmarks and were inspired by the natural landscape. While designing a 21st Century building, the team placed great emphasis on looking at historical elements and how other local buildings respond to the unique Florida environment.
The group also worked to find the right balance between designing a signature building that is equally open and welcoming. "What we are designing here is a hybrid between object architecture - an iconic building such as the Sydney Opera House or the Walt Disney Concert Hall - and a contextual performing arts center, such as Tempe Center for the Arts, that welcomes the community and reflects its surroundings," said Barton Myers.
The team also met with a tapestry of residents to obtain a full range of perceptions. Feedback from members of the Orlando community has been very clear. While residents are looking for a center that will enable world-class performances and offer enhanced arts education programs, they simultaneously want that arts center to belong to them. DPAC needs to be a home for not only Bach, the American Ballet Company and Shakespeare, but also artists like Carlos Santana, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The community needs a performing arts center built with the interests of everyone at its heart.
"We found that there's a vibrancy that's very youthful. In talking to and observing the people and measuring the pulse of the community, we found a yearning for urban lifestyle, diversity and communal activity," said Ryan Ihly, Senior Associate at Barton Myers and Associates.
Another focus was on the natural elements of Florida. The team worked to incorporate the omnipresence of water, light, and other aspects of the natural ecology into the design of the facility and the surrounding outdoor plaza. According to Ihly, "What's important is to accentuate the natural environment and to provide relief from it at the same time. We had to deal in a very direct way with issues of rain and sun, hence the extensive roof line that provides protection from the elements while also becoming a major component of the aesthetic idea."
The result is a performing arts center design that is an interpretation of the city's architecture, its natural environment, and its people.
On October 15, 2009, the performing arts center project was re-launched with the exciting unveiling of the interior renderings of the three theaters. Design architect Barton Myers' vision was to design and create unique environments for each theater.
This amplified theater, to be named by Disney, is the largest performance space. Inspired by classic outdoor theaters, the blue side walls and ceiling simulate an evening sky. The major surfaces in the room are adorned with cherry wood and woven copper.
The design also references some of the most successful theaters by offering exceptional sightlines with tiered seating close to the stage.
Amplified sound will be loud but clear with strong bass support, superb sound imaging and clearly understandable reinforcement for actors and singers.
An aisle of the orchestra level depicts the opening scene of the touring production of Disney's "THE LION KING."
The multi-form theater is a small, intimate and warm room that will transform its shape and acoustics to ideally accommodate symphony, opera and ballet. The flexibility of the stage is achieved with a moving shell and towers that can be arranged to create rooms ideally shaped for each art form. The natural acoustics will rival the world's best concert and opera performance spaces.
This theater also has the capacity to quickly and seamlessly convert its orchestra level into a flat floor ball room. In flat floor mode, this theater will be Orlando's premiere event space and will be the ideal venue for weddings, conferences and opening night galas.
Rich materials such as wood, plaster and metallic accents combined with the curved and continuous balconies enhance the room's sense of intimacy and grandeur. The shape, materials and acoustics will transform the patron into the magic of the music, dance and theater on its stage.
The community theater, designed for local and emerging arts groups, as well as the University of Central Florida's performing arts program, is centrally positioned on the second floor with its entry off the lobby rotunda.
The intimate space is designed in a horseshoe configuration with a thrust stage, unlike the square black box that is typical of other smaller theaters. The stage is flexible to accommodate different performance genres. Acoustics offer strength and clarity of the spoken word. The orchestra level seating can transform to a flat floor for performance, banquets and events.
Balcony facades are aluminum with specks of back-lit glass embedded to create the illusion of sparkling stars encircling the room. Bright colored art work is incorporated in the ceiling panels, which is also repeated in the seating upholstery to energize the theater.