New $900m Lincoln Center now beginning to take shape.

The heavy white marble of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts grand 16-acre campus is being chiseled away to open the stage to a more luminous, modern version of the iconic cultural plaza created in the 1960's as part of the Robert Moses Urban Renewal Project. Future changes expected to shimmer on the Upper West Side complex--which houses the New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic and nine other prestigious arts organizations--include phosphorescent green LED program text and images projected on steps and on scattered "infoblades," a wall of water in the Harmony Atrium and a light-flooded corridor along 65th street.

"There's already clear evidence along 65th street of a more transparent, accessible and animated 16-acre campus.

With the Milstein Plaza Bridge gone, the street is much brighter and inviting. The eastern side of Alice Trully Hall and the Julliard School have been sheared away, literally opening up Lincoln Center to Broadway and the surrounding cityscape," said Frank Bennack, chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. at a redevelopment briefing held on May 1.

The "Good Night Alice" gala was recently held to close Alice Truly Hall and begin 18 months of construction work. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in conjunction with FXFowle architects, is currently testing the glass curtain wall that will replace the building's skin in Germany against simulated storm conditions. 'Floating dance studios' will hang over the building's entrance so that pedestrians can watch dancers from the School of American Ballet rehearse. The walls of the hall will glow just before a performance begins.

In line with the phosphorescent theme, the team is responsible for conceiving the infoblades which will scroll names of venues and shows on the North Plaza and be controlled from a central command studio. The firm's technological angling will be complemented by Lincoln Center's recent agreement with Nokia, Inc. to offer free Wi Fi throughout all the outdoor public spaces.

Those students whose eyes are not stuck to their computer screens can lounge on the sloping public green and gaze into the improved version of the campus's famous reflecting pool. The pool will be elongated and fitted with a new basin that dips and rises above and below the plaza surface with water trickling over its edge. A grove of trees geometrically clipped to correspond with the surrounding architecture.

The pinnacle of Tod Williams Billy Tsien Architects in collaboration with Michael Beirut of Pentagrams landscape design is the redressing of the Harmony Atrium, running between 62nd and 63rd streets, which will be transformed into a "theatrical garden" replete with two 20 ft. moss walls, and built-in misting equipment. A flat plate of water will cantilever from the upper level of the atrium and columns of water on the stairs to the upper entrance.

The stone benches and grassy knolls included in the space will offer a resting place for those attending free shows or community gatherings. The atrium will also house Lincoln Centers first outlet for discounted, day of performance tickets.

The designers and the City Planning Commission are currently debating the design of the Harmony Atrium.

Construction is expected to be completed between 2009 and 2010. Work is on track and on schedule, said Katherine Farley, chairman of the Lincoln Center Redevelopment Project, Inc. $702 million of the $900 million cost of the total redevelopment cost of the project has already been raised.

"Only one thing could enable us to maintain such an exceptional pace of fundraising--and that's the commitment of an entire community. New York is determined to revitalize Lincoln Center, for tens of millions of visitors in the decades to come," Bennack said.