ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA NAMES SANTIAGO CALATRAVA AS ARCHITECT FOR SYMPHONY CENTER World-renowned architect completes design team of Kirkegaard Associates, Acoustician; Auerbach + Associates, Theatre Consultants; Cesar Pelli & Associates, Master Planner

ATLANTA - June 17, 2002 - The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) announced today that it has named Santiago Calatrava as the architect for the Atlanta Symphony Center. The ASO Architect Selection Task Force recommended Mr. Calatrava after more than nine months of research, traveling, interviews and public discussions. Of the 59 architectural firms who submitted proposals the Task Force eventually winnowed the list to three finalists before selecting Mr. Calatrava.

"Both our Task Force and our community advisory group were deeply impressed by Mr. Calatrava," said ASO Architect Selection Task Force Chair Adair Massey. "The brilliance of his designs, the depth of his thinking and his respect for the collaborative process made him the overwhelming choice to create the landmark building that Atlanta, and the entire state, desires."

The works of the Paris and Zurich-based Santiago Calatrava are widely hailed because of his ability to marry both technical sophistication and aesthetic desire. While classical in style his projects are largely inspired by nature; the pavilion roof of his widely acclaimed Milwaukee Art Museum for example, opens like the wings of a swan; the slanting concrete pillars of his enormous Satolas airport/train station outside Lyon, France seem to stretch like the legs of dancers.

"To create a design that can speak harmoniously and uniquely for the Symphony, the neighborhood and the City of Atlanta itself is a great and wonderful challenge," said Calatrava. "I am honored to be chosen by Atlanta and to be joining this extraordinary group. "

Mr. Calatrava's appointment completes the design and development team for the future concert hall. Other key appointments were announced last January 2002: Kirkegaard Associates, Acoustician; Auerbach + Associates, Theatre Consultants; Cesar Pelli & Associates, Master Planner; and Hines Interests, Development Manager. The preliminary timeline for completion of the Atlanta Symphony Center calls for design to be completed in 2003, construction to begin in 2005 and the opening of the Center in fall 2008.

The ASO also announced that it has begun the second phase of its work to further develop the programmatic components. Building program task forces will now set about to refine a general vision for various aspects of the new hall that will include a broad variety of functions from backstage and administrative needs to public spaces and technology. Ultimately the task forces will, through the Building Steering Committee, make timely recommendations to the architect and design team.

Architect Selection Process
Chaired by ASO Board Member Adair Massey, the Architect Selection Task Force began work in the fall with more than 200 firms expressing interest in the project, 59 of which responded with requested submittals. The Task Force was comprised of ASO board members Paul Blackney, Jere Drummond, Dona Humphreys, George Lanier, Kim Taylor, and from the staff, ASO President Allison Vulgamore and Project Director Tom Tomlinson. Serving as a resource to the Task Force were Ellen Dunham-Jones, Director of Architecture at Georgia Tech; the Center's acoustician, Kirkegaard Associates; theater consultant Auerbach + Associates; and Hines Interests, the co-developer of the 6.2 acre midtown site and the Center's development manager. The Task Force also received counsel from the 10-member - ASO Architect Selection Advisory Group - composed of community members: Stephanie Blank, Ellen Dunham-Jones, Bob Edge, Ann Johnson, Walter Massey, Marcy McTier, Shelton Stanfill of the Woodruff Arts Center, Music Director Robert Spano, principal percussionist Tom Sherwood and ASO chorus member Carol Statella. Serving as consultant to this group was Mary Hill, Project Construction Manager for Hines. Together the two groups developed an inclusive process for narrowing the candidates and selecting the final choice. On March 3, the task force chose seven semi-finalists: Bing Thom Architects of Vancouver, British Columbia; New York architect Steven Holl; Ateliers Jean Nouvel of Paris (which withdrew due to the awarding of the Danish Radio Concert Hall); the Danish firm of Schmidt, Hammer & Lassen; Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects of Atlanta; Boston-based Moshe Safdie and Associates and Santiago Calatrava. The architect selection process has received funding from the Fulton County Commission under the guidance of the Fulton County Arts Council and additional funding from the
Gage Foundations.

SANTIAGO CALATRAVA was born in Valencia, Spain. He is best known in the United States for the design of the Milwaukee Art Museum's Quadracci Pavilion, which opened in October 2001. Mr. Calatrava's projects include: the new Science Centre Museum and Planetarium, Valencia, Spain (2000); Stadelhofen Railway Station, Zurich, Switzerland (1990); BCE Place, Galleria and Heritage Square, Toronto, Canada (1992); Lyon Airport Railway Station, France (1994); Bilbao Football Stadium, Bilbao, Spain (1995); and the Kuwait Pavilion, Expo '92, Seville, Spain (1992). Exhibitions of the architect's work have been shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Milwaukee Art Museum and at museums in London, Tokyo, Moscow, Copenhagen, Munich, Stockholm, Rotterdam and Zurich. Other projects include the design for the completion of the massive Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York; a new commission for the first bridge of the modern era over the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy; and a new commission for the Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland, CA. Mr. Calatrava studied art and architecture in Valencia, with graduate courses in urban studies and civil engineering. He has a Ph.D. in Technical Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and honorary doctorates from University Politechnic Valencia, University of Seville, Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Mr.Calatrava now lives in Paris and has architectural offices in Zurich (established in 1981), Paris (established 1989), and Valencia, Spain.

THE NEW ATLANTA SYMPHONY CENTER will serve as the Orchestra's full-time performance, rehearsal, teaching and administrative home. The 6.2-acre Midtown property for Symphony Center was purchased by the Woodruff Arts Center, corporate parent of the ASO, in March 2000. The property, located at the corner of Peachtree Street and 14th Street, is being co-developed by ASO and Hines Interests as a live, work, play, and learn environment and is programmed to include two 30-plus story mixed-use residential/hotel and restaurant towers, green space and retail space. The new Center will significantly expand the Woodruff Arts Center campus.

ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA is the largest arts organization in the Southeast and one of the youngest American orchestras to achieve prominence on the global stage. Music Director Robert Spano and Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles have just completed their inaugural season as the artistic leaders of the ASO. Two recent recordings on the Telarc label have received wide acclaim Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, with Mr. Spano leading the ASO and Carl Orff's Carmina burana with Mr. Runnicles conducting the Orchestra and the ASO Chorus. This summer a third recording on the Telarc label will be released, Vaughn-Williams Sea Symphony with Music Director Robert Spano leading the Orchestra and the ASO Chorus. The Orchestra's recordings, some featuring the globally renowned ASO Chorus, have earned 18 Grammys. Now in its 57th season, the ASO performs a year-round slate of more than 250 concerts annually, including a 72-concert classical season and related series at Atlanta Symphony Hall; an annual summer pops series at Chastain Park Amphitheater, and a full schedule of educational, neighborhood and Free Parks concerts throughout the city of Atlanta. The Orchestra supports 200 young musicians annually in the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and Talent Development programs.

THE WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER is a not-for-profit center for performing and visual arts. Comprising the Alliance Theatre Company, the Atlanta College of Art (ACA), the 14th St. Playhouse, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO), and the High Museum of Art (High), the Woodruff Arts Center is ranked among the top four arts centers in the nation. Additionally, the Center raises an annual corporate campaign second only to Lincoln Center.

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