Prior Performing Arts Center: An incubator for multidisciplinary learning in the performing and visual arts

The Prior Performing Arts Center, designed by theDiller Scofidio + Renfro, is the cultural hub of the school, with spaces for both fine arts and performing arts. It houses a 400-seat concert hall, a flexible space that functions as both a theater and a 200-seat lecture hall, and the Cantor Art Gallery that has relocated there

Located in the Upper District of the campus, the Prior Performing Arts Center gathers the circulation flows of the college, channeling them to its center. Surrounding this central space, four pavilions host corresponding functions: the Multifunctional Theater for opera and music, the Theater Studio for drama, the Art/Media space, and finally the area named Practice/Production

The four pavilions are contained within two pairs of walls that intersect to form a grid of nine squares. At every corner of the grid, there's a courtyard garden, each with its unique function: a small amphitheater, an outdoor teaching and workspace, a meditative garden, and a sculpture garden

The paired walls twist, rise, and interlock: the wall of one pavilion becomes the roof of the adjacent one, forming a chain around the central point and creating arched entrances that lead to the heart of the building. The opposing walls made of precast concrete and weather-resistant steel reinterpret the bricks and limestone of the older part of the campus. Capitalizing on the site's natural beauty, the Center's design creates a significant counterpoint to the surrounding architecture