Moshe Safdie designed the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. His design took advantage of the site's dramatic views by placing the two performance halls facing south with glass enclosures, opening the foyers to views of the city skyline. The enveloping structure features undulating vertical segments that form a segmented, gently curving crown. The curved roof descends towards the south, intersecting with an outwardly inclined glass wall containing the southern-facing foyer.

1. CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
High-Tech Architectural Style
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
Ar. Moshe Safdie
POOJA PATIL
309116
JNEC, AURANGABD

2. Moshe Safdie is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist,
and author. Embracing a comprehensive and humane design
philosophy, Safdie is committed to architecture that supports and
enhances a projects program; that is informed by the geographic,
social, and cultural elements that define a place; and that
responds to human needs and aspirations.
 PRINCIPLES OF MOSHE SAFDIE
1.Shaping the public realm
2.Architecture with purpose
3.Responding to the essence of place
4.Architecture that is buildable
5.Building responsibly
6.Humanizing the mega scale
 Safdie has completed a wide range of
projects, such as-
Cultural, educational, and civic institutions;
neighborhoods and public parks; mixed-use urban
centers and airports; and master plans for existing
communities and entirely new cities around the
world.
 Moshe Safdie's works are known for their
dramatic curves, arrays of geometric
patterns, use of windows, and key placement
of open and green spaces

3. KAUFFMAN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
 Architects - Safdie Architects
 Location - 216 NW 107th St, Kansas City, MO64155,
United States
 Project Year- 2011
- MOSHE SAFDIE
The opportunity to design a major new performing arts
center was precipitated by two significant decisions: the
selection of an extraordinary site crowning the
escarpment overlooking the historic warehouse district
and the new entertainment district, affording a 180° view
of the horizon; and the decision to construct two
dedicated halls for symphony, ballet, opera, and theatre.

4. Muriel Kauffman theatre foyer
Helzberg hall
S
I
T
E
P
L
A
N
NORTH

5. The drop in the land towards the south allowed them to include a new road that serves as the
drop-off point and leads to a large underground parking garage on top of which sits a park.
From the garage and the drop-off levels, the public ascends the grand stair to the great hall, with
public gathering areas and the individual theatres on each side. Recognizing the significance of
downtown as an additional access point, the North Entrance was aligned on the axis of
Central Street, penetrating through the building into the theatre lobbies
NORTH
Drop in land and
towards south.
Drop-off point
PARK
Grand stair
to the great
hall.
ENTRANCE FROM NORTH

6.  Moshe believes that the site of a project always holds the secret for
its design concept. He was compelled by the dramatic view to the
south. As the site was on a higher plateau facing the city on its south
he placed the two performance halls on the north ,which he
considered “performance areas” that should be exposed to the view
of the city. The glass enclosure opens the foyer to dramatic views of
the sky and skyline. At night, seen from the exterior, the glazing
disappears and reveals the dramatically lit theater facades and activity
within the public areas.
NORTH
NORTH
SOUTH
SOUTHSection of MURIEL KAUFFMAN THEATRE
Section of HELZBERG HALL
Glass
enclosure
Performance areas
CITY VIEW
UNDERGROUND
PARKING

7.  Each hall reads as a
-distinct volume
-metaphorically evoking a musical instrument
-visible through the glass shell
 As the natural light changes, so does the building’s
transparency, reflecting the structure’s surroundings and,
at the same time, hinting at its interior.
 At night, the entire building becomes inverted, displaying all
of its interior activities to the community outside.
 The halls are served by a series of access
balconies fronting on the great hall, forming
two conical stacked rings of white plaster.
 The thousands of people mingling before and
after performances and intermissions are
theatrically visible to one another. Thus, the
great hall with its surrounding balconies is a
counterpoint to the theaters within.
 The theater of the public realm, where the
celebrating public are visible to the southern
sweep of the city.

8.  The enveloping structure of the complex is a
-series of undulating
-vertical segments of a circle forming the northern container of
the theater's stage, concert hall, and experimental theater.
- As these elements ascend, they create a segmented, gently
curving crown to the building.
-From this crest, the roof descends in a curve following the
toroidal geometry of light cables, metal, and glass toward the
south.
-The roof intersects with an outwardly inclined and curved
glass wall(which contains the foyer with a southern view).
-The tensile forces of the suspended glass foyer roof are
counteracted by a series of cables tying down the structure to
anchors at the entrance terrace

9.  The curved, segmented northern walls are sheathed in
silvery stainless steel and punctuated by acid etched,
limestone-colored, precast concrete perpendicular walls.
-The roof is stainless steel over the performing halls,
changing to glass over the foyers .
-The theater facades are clad in veneer plaster forming
continuous curved, stacked balconies.
-The lobby bars form sculptural shapes visible under the
glass structure
Stainless steel