The new Center for the Arts at James Madison University forms the westterminus to the historic main Quadrangle. The open spaces on the site have been configured to bring students and visitors down the axis of the Quad, under Main Street through a new viaduct, and into a series of courtyards. The Landscape Architecture Bureau designed this connection as well as a courtyard at the Center at the west end of the viaduct anda unified arrival court/pedestrian plaza at the public entry to the performance space. The design is unified by the serial use of rock outcroppings that echo the signature social space on campus at Wilson Hall and that will be exposed and shaped during construction. The mainpublic entrance, on the west, is shaped by use of a series of curved walls and steps that intersect the outcrops, providing seating during intermission and another social space for students.
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