Scholar and architectural historian Victoria Newhouse will talk with Hirshhorn Director Richard Koshalek about her new book, Site and Sound: The Architecture and Acoustics of New Opera Houses and Concert Halls (The Monacelli Press, 2012) Wednesday, Sept. 12, at noon at the Library of Congress. In the fourth collaboration between the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, Newhouse will discuss her recent publication charting the course of performing arts architecture from ancient Greece to the recent transformation of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. In her richly illustrated book, Newhouse argues that this is a golden age in opera house design in which new halls respond in unprecedented ways to the needs of contemporary musicians. Newhouse’s conversation with Koshalek will also touch on the trend of arts institutions embracing temporary, pop-up structures as they move away from vast, multimillion-dollar additions.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. It will take place in Room 119 in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Doors will open at 11:30 a.m., and the event will begin promptly at noon.
For more information about exhibitions and events, visit hirshhorn.si.edu