$325m Lincoln Center renovation designs unveiled.

Acclaimed architects, Diller, Scofidio and Renfro, are set to perform a $325 million "architectural striptease" that will transform Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts into a welcoming nighttime and daytime venue for students and visitors alike.

At a press conference last week, architect, Liz Diller, unveiled the conceptual design for the project that aims to create a "Street of the Arts' spanning West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. Construction is set to begin in 2006 on the project that, according to Diller, will turn Lincoln Center inside out.

"Rather than replace the image of this cultural icon with one alien to it, we propose to amplify its most successful features and fulfill its unrealized potential," she said during a virtual tour of the company's design.

To do that, Diller explained, several of the non-descript exterior walls on the 16 acre campus that houses some of the finest arts institutions in the world--including the famed Julliard School, School of American Ballet, Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic--will be replaced with transparent glass facades.

Diller--a professor of architecture at Princeton University and a partner in Diller, Scofidio and Renfro--explained how the plan included significant renovation and expansion to several of Lincoln Center's cultural facilities, as well as new and improved amenities for the public, including improvements to the north plaza's reflecting pool and the addition of cascading water. Trees will be planted just south of the pool and a new restaurant being built near the pool will be topped by an undulating lawn.

"We want to bring New York City into Lincoln Center and spill Lincoln Center out into the street," added Diller, whose firm is leading the design effort in collaboration with Fox and Fowle Architects.

Rebecca Robertson, executive director of the Lincoln Center Development Project, told the press conference how 5,000 artists, students and employees toil on 13 stages, 81 rehearsal rooms, 80 practice rooms and 13 dance studios that make up one of the world's biggest arts center every day.

Over one million people visit the center every year and, on any given night, thousands encounter chaos on the streets surrounding the campus as they try to get to curtains on time.

The new plan should go a long way to alleviate that with wider sidewalks, reduced traffic lanes, a transparent footbridge, improved signage and the spectacular new entrances to the Julliard School, Film Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center Theater and Samuel B. and David Rose Building. Garage entrances on the now dank 65th Street will also be relocated.

On hand for the unveiling was Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a former member of the Lincoln Center board. He recalled how President Dwight Eisenhower performed the groundbreaking ceremony for Lincoln Center in May 1959 when it acted as a catalyst for the redevelopment of the Upper West Side.

"Today, we begin a new transformation to turn it into a street of the arts--the first in a series of projects over the next decade that will revitalize the world's largest performing arts center," he told the audience.

Bloomberg said many parts of the design would still have to make their way through the public review process and the city and state would have to come up with as much money as they could to support the project. However, he praised the foresight of those involved in building for the future, explaining, "If you go back and look at some of the great projects in the city, many were started when the city had economic difficulties, but our ancestors had the foresight to press ahead."

The city has already committed $240 million to the project and the public private partnership that is behind the redesign has raised $17 million. A fundraising campaign, Bravo Lincoln Center, is coordinating the effort to fill the cash gap.

Diller, Scofidio and Renfro leads the design team that includes Fox and Fowle, L'Observatoire International, Inc., Cooper Robertson and Partners and 2x4. The project is scheduled for completion by 2009.