Golden Child

The magnificent Perelman Performing Arts Center is a standout at the reconstructed World Trade Center site. Will people come?  

- JUSTIN DAVIDSON

A SUMPTUOUS PUZZLE BOX SITS ON A DARK CUSHION AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. THE SURFACE IS A MOSAIC OF MARBLE TILES, THEIR VEINING ARRANGED TO FORM DIAMOND-SHAPED RIPPLES ACROSS EACH SIDE. DEEP INSIDE IS A BOX WITHIN A BOX, CONTAINING YET MORE COMPARTMENTS, WHICH CAN BE SEPARATED AND REARRANGED BY SLIDING PARTITIONS OR COMBINED INTO A SINGLE ROOM. DURING THE DAY, THE WHOLE PACKAGE IS CREAMY AND OPAQUE, A SCULPTURE BEST ADMIRED FROM A DISTANCE. 

At dusk, it glows from inside and the exterior is revealed as a translucent membrane of stone.

That’s when it beckons. When the Perelman Performing Arts Center opens on September 19, people will begin converging on it from nearby streets, underground passageways, and the memorial plaza, flowing up the stairs that are tucked beneath its elevated mass, drawn by the promise of intimate performance and an architecture of delicate mystery. “We wanted to respond to the context with a pure, elegant form, something that while being deferential would also have a respectful independence,” says the architect Joshua Ramus, a tall, shaven-headed man with an ascetic air and a deliberate way of speaking that suggests he has formulated three drafts of every sentence before he utters it. Along with his firm, rex, and Davis Brody Bond, he has designed a building that projects a similarly controlled sobriety. A compact structure surrounded by burly skyscrapers, it holds the spotlight on a highly visible stage, offering spectacle without garishness.