It was the architect Jean Nouvel of France who conceived of a plan for the island in the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt that would allow a natural flow between indoor and outdoor space. Then Shigeru Ban, the Pritzker-Prize winning Japanese architect, teamed up with the architect Jean de Gastines of France to create the project that cost 170 million euros (about $203 million).
Blog
Out Of Nowhere? London’s Royal Opera Gets A New Director
The appointment of Oliver Mears, who previously ran the Northern Ireland Opera, founded in 2010, “was a surprise, and I don’t mean that negatively,” said John Allison, editor of Opera Magazine. “He has a reputation as being a nice guy and a talented director, but he has no real international profile.”
Is Japanese Culture Traumatized By Centuries Of Natural Disaster?
“As bad as they were, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami were just the latest chapter in a long, tragic narrative. The Japanese archipelago sits at the nexus of four tectonic plates, subjecting the region to more than 1,500 seismic events each year, including at least two 5.0 magnitude or higher earthquakes. As a result, Tokyo has been destroyed and rebuilt on average, from 1608 to 1945, once every five years. … The effects of centuries of natural disaster may be most obvious, though, in Japanese culture.”
Berklee College To Take Over Historic NY Recording Studio
“Berklee College of Music will try to revive one of New York City’s most storied recording studios, where artists from Bruce Springsteen to Lady Gaga and the cast of the Broadway show “Hamilton” have produced hit albums.”
What It’s Like To Write A Book When You’ve Had A Traumatic Brain Injury
“In the back corner of the shed were two big X [Google: ‘the thing you bang on in a band to make the beat’ :::: drums] full of what looked like broken-up pieces of metal about the size of cheese snack X [Google: ‘cheese square snack’ :::: crackers].”
Why Doesn’t More Arts Philanthropy Go To Rural Areas?
“Many large grant entities, both foundations and government agencies, seem to prefer to fund urban areas for clear reasons. Many urban areas have significant needs and funding in urban areas can have a positive impact on more people. Funders, quite understandably, want the most bang for their buck, and more people live in urban areas. It all makes for a reasonable piece of conventional wisdom, but is it accurate? Does an urban-centric strategy truly generate the most bang for the buck?”
If A Critic Gets Free Tickets, Is She Obligated To Review The Play?
Lyn Gardner explains why a critic might not be able to publish a review – or might not, under certain circumstances, want to – and what good might come from those free tickets even if there’s no review.
Berlin’s Staatsoper Reopens After Renovation
“When the city committed itself in 2008 to renovating the Staatsoper, which needed to be reinforced from groundwater leaks, the conductor Daniel Barenboim insisted that the acoustics also be improved. While he and Stefan Rosinski, the former Berlin Opera Foundation general director, advocated a full modernization of the interior, the mayor at the time, Klaus Wowereit, favored a historic preservation in keeping with German laws about cultural heritage.”
Was 1876 The Most Important Year In Classical Music’s History?
Mike Ashman looks at the extraordinary number of key events that happened that year – events whose effects we still feel today.
Thomas Campbell Opens Up About His Time Leading The Met Museum
“Audiences are changing, behavior is changing, scholarship is changing, and I think I’ve helped move the museum in the direction that it needs to be moved in to be successful in the future. It required making some fundamental decisions, and now I’ve played the part I can play there, and I’m looking forward to moving on and thinking about the cultural sector in a broader way.”