The Dallas Theater Center (DTC) has announced that New York-based multidisciplinary firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) will renovate Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, Texas.

DS+R is behind the key projects around the world, including the redesign of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts Campus and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as Met Warehouse for the new home of MIT School Of Architecture And Planning.

According to a press release, the renovation plans will open 9-acre (36,422-square-metre) site to Katy Trail, Dean Park and Turtle Creek and add two theaters to expand opportunities for artists, audiences and students.

The building was opened in 1959 and has been home to DTC since its opening, and the renovation efforts aim to preserve the theater’s distinct architecture while equipping it to inspire a new generation. 

A steering committee made up of diverse community stakeholders selected Diller Scofidio + Renfro after a thorough selection process, and the firm – with DTC, stated the press release.

Image © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, photograph by G. E. Kidder Smith

Hillwood Urban will be the project manager, overseeing the drive to restore the theater to its historic period of significance, while improving its ability to function as a modern working theater.

In keeping with Wright’s organic, nature-inspired vision, the master plan will connect the Katy Trail, Dean Park and the surrounding neighborhoods of Uptown, Turtle Creek and Oak Lawn to the Kalita Humphreys Campus, making the entire site an accessible public space for all.

The Kalita Humphreys Theater is unique among Wright’s distinguished body of work as the only free-standing theater he designed that was built during his lifetime. 

Its most notable internal feature is a revolving stage which exemplifies Wright’s Organic Theory of architecture, which stressed the unification of the building’s form and function, the harmony of the building’s structure with its natural setting, and the aesthetically pleasing manipulation of space. Like all of Wright’s projects, the theater’s design was considered bold and innovative for its time. Wright also stressed integration with nature, and the theater was built into a limestone bluff overlooking Turtle Creek. 

The Kalita Humphreys Theater is nestled among trees alongside Turtle Creek, Dec. 15, 2017. Image © Guy Reynolds

Charles Renfro will lead the design of the project in collaboration with his partners at Diller Scofidio + Renfro. This is a deeply personal project for Renfro, who was raised in Baytown, Texas, and traces his love of architecture to the state’s modernist icons. 

"As a native Texan, I am particularly excited to contribute to our state’s architectural heritage and partner with Dallas Theater Center, whose bold productions are equally matched by their bold commitment to architectural innovation," said Renfro.

"This project is an opportunity to restore the Kalita Humphreys – one of Dallas’s most overlooked pieces of architecture – to its rightful place in the pantheon of design masterpieces in the city. Not only is it Frank Lloyd Wright’s only built theater, but it has also made significant contributions to the way theater has been presented and seen."

"Since it was built, the theater’s bucolic setting between Turtle Creek and the Katy Trail has been overwhelmed by parking lots and roadways. Our approach will seek to slow the site down and add new architecturally significant programs grown out of the surrounding urban green. The Kalita Humphreys complex will be an idyllic and iconic refuge surrounded by nature, merely footsteps away from the bustling city,"he said.

DTC and its partners will present a plan to the City’s Office of Arts and Culture by the end of 2020. The Dallas City Council will be asked to give final approval of the plan.

Top image © Smiley N. Pool 

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