Large plaster panels do double duty: as acoustic reflectors to enhance the orchestra's sound and as

video screens for performances that call for projected images to accompany the music Rui Dias-Aidos

To permit long-distance collaboration, the center's numerous rehearsal studios (like this typically

voluptuous Gehry-designed module)are wired for Internet2, the high-bandwidth network used by many

universities and research facilities. Tomas Loewy In the new park outside the center, visitors can set up chairs or lounge on the lawn to watch

performances free of charge on a giant projection wall. When no performances are taking place, it

displays video art or films Tomas Loewy

Architects sometimes like to talk about breaking out of the box. Classical musicians, it turns out, have the

same idea. Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony, wanted a new home

for his other passion, the New World Symphony--a Miami-based orchestra and academy that provides up

to three years of seasoning for young musicians. Frank Gehry was the perfect candidate for the job, and

not just because he used to babysit Tilson Thomas many years ago when the conductor was growing up

in Los Angeles. No one has broken out of the box more spectacularly than Gehry, creator of the mighty

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; his Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles is one of the most

inviting symphony spaces in the world. Now, at a time when symphony orchestras are suffering from

declining audiences and revenues, what both men wanted was a building that would take classical music

and launch it powerfully into the world.

To bring the audience closer to the musicians, Gehry configured the 756 seats in the New World Center's

main auditorium around the stage. During performances, nine high-definition video cameras feed images

to an editing booth, which transmits an edited feed to a vast 7,000-sq.-ft. (650 sq m) projection wall on an

exterior wall of the building, allowing audiences in the adjoining park to enjoy the music outdoors. Back

inside, rehearsal rooms are Web-connected to allow the young musicians in Miami to take

video-conference-style master classes from instructors anywhere in the world. If it all works, this won't be

just a concert hall you go to. It will be a concert hall that goes to you.