David Geffen Hall

“This is about having a home for music. A place that people are invited into. A place that is the concert hall of the greatest orchestra in the world, the New York Philharmonic.”

Deborah Borda, President and CEO of the New York Philharmonic

David Geffen Hall, home to New York’s Philharmonic, at Lincoln Center is more than a music hall. It’s a cultural landmark. At its core the concert hall has through the years celebrated memorable moments, hosting notable performers and patrons.

Designed originally by Max Abramovitz in 1962, the hall has gone under multiple renovations over the decades. These efforts have attempted to address the acoustical challenges, which were still unresolved.

The reimagination project reconceives the entire facility within its existing historic shell to create a more welcoming and intimate audience experience featuring state-of-the-art acoustics and technical capabilities. With a new concert hall as the building’s centerpiece, all public spaces are also being reconceptualized to provide greater opportunities for people to gather and more intuitive circulation throughout its public and back-of-house facilities.

The design transforms the existing concert hall from a cavernous rectilinear shoebox into a curvilinear unified room with flawless acoustics and optimized sightlines that fosters an intimate connection between the audience and performers. By relocating the stage forward by 25 feet and eliminating the proscenium, the seating wraps around the stage and brings the entire audience closer to the performers.

The new hall is a flexible space that is readily adaptable to a range of stage and seating configurations supported by state-of-the-art infrastructure. In addition to a highly versatile performance space, the new hall also features updated back-of-house facilities to accommodate the wide-ranging needs of performers and production teams.

New interior public spaces include a reconfigured main lobby, new entrance with improved visitor flow and accessibility, a large media wall visible from the street, expanded food and beverage service with access to the terrace, and new promontories overlooking the lobby level create a more welcoming and unified environment.

Client Lincoln Center and New York Philharmonic
Completion 2022


Public Space Collaboration Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects
Photography Michael Moran, Richard Barnes


Team See full project team
Carlos Calpe Gargallo
Sherri Catt
Alexa Carroll
Paul De Voe
Kholisile Dhliwayo
Marie Divivier
Nick Duch
Mehdi Ghiyaei
Emre Goktay
Simge Goktay
Jim Graves
Brandon Griffin
Elizabeth Gyde
Stephanie Huss
Taylor Knoche
Matthew Lella
Liheng Li
Michael Lukasik
Darlene Magno
Christiano Mahler
Gary McCluskie
Sarah Mercer
Maya Orzechowska
Lynn Pilon
Graeme Reed
Antra Roze
Matthew Schmid
Donald Schmitt
Antonia Stanev
Nigel Tai
Nika Teper
Michael Treacy
Jose Trinidad
Brian Tseng
Vanessa Valladares
Sybil Wa
Adam Ward
Russell Wooten
Coco Xiong
Albert Yu
Javier Zeller
Wei Zhao