When the day is over, we miss the glowing sky of a cloudless afternoon. We are drawn to the brightness and sound of the movie screen as it cuts a timeless window of daylight into the night. In the city, this is the closest thing to hearing a good story by the campfire in the middle of dark wilderness.
Because the desire for light is so profoundly human and so central to the idea of cinema, we place it at the heart of our proposal. A vast picture screen glows on the sloped underside of the main auditorium and makes the theater visible from the boulevards and park. This dramatic tilt of the traditionally vertical cinema screen opens a digital sky above the lobby. A long mirror creates the perception of walking through the picture when entering the movie theater. With a similar effect, a panoramic elevator shoots upwards through the inclined screen into an after-show lounge on the rooftop. The facade around the lobby is the most transparent glass skin we could build, so that the foyer and the Digital Sky above it can be seen as clearly as possible from the outside. This openness gives the Theater a new face that has the depth and expressive power we expect from an important public building.