Opened in 1969, the Kran­nert Cen­ter for the Per­form­ing Arts (designed by Max Abramovitz, best known for his work on Rock­e­feller Cen­ter, Radio City Music Hall and Lin­coln Cen­ter) at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois Urbana-Cham­paign is laud­ed as one of the Unit­ed States’ pre­mier uni­ver­si­ty-based per­form­ing arts complexes. 

Foellinger Great Hall, Try­on Fes­ti­val The­atre, Col­well Play­house, Stu­dio The­ater, the Lobby’s Stage 5 the­ater and an out­door amphithe­ater com­prise the core pro­gram for the com­plex. Age and the assess­ment of future needs for the School of Music influ­enced the need for a mas­ter plan. 

Designed as an ​“acad­e­my” the plan enhances civic space while bring­ing to life a vision of an arts block where stu­dents, artists-in-res­i­dence, and leg­ends can inter­act, engage, and col­lab­o­rate. A cen­tral glazed pavil­ion improves the entry sequence and enclos­es the exist­ing amphithe­ater; trans­form­ing it into a 1,000 seat the­ater. Addi­tion­al spaces increase the Center’s func­tion­al­i­ty with fac­ul­ty offices, a cafe­te­ria, café, lounge, and gift shop that hug the edges of the site and acti­vate the streetscape. The next phase of work includes fundrais­ing and align­ment with the cap­i­tal improve­ment plan.

Client: Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois Urbana — Cham­paign
Pro­gram: Mas­ter plan for the ren­o­va­tion and expan­sion of a per­form­ing arts cam­pus
Size: 115,000 sqft addi­tion and 300,000 sqft renovation