International architectural firm chosen to design new Sarasota Performing Arts Center

An international architectural firm known for such prominent buildings as the Whitney Museum in New York, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the tall spire known as The Shard in London, among dozens of others, has been selected as the top choice to design a new performing arts center on Sarasota Bay.

The Design Architect Selection Task Force appointed by the city of Sarasota and the Sarasota Performing Arts Center Foundation voted Thursday to recommend Renzo Piano Building Workshop, a company established in 1981 by its namesake architect with main offices in Genoa, Italy, and Paris, France. 

The task force voted 3-1 for Renzo Piano over Foster + Partners, a British firm founded by Sir Norman Foster, and Snøhetta, a company based in Oslo, Norway. Foster was the second choice by a similar vote of 3-1 and could still be selected if the city of Sarasota is unable to reach a contract agreement with the Piano firm, a process that could take a couple of months.

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The four committee members said they couldn’t make a bad choice with any of the three finalists, which were among 43 companies that submitted proposals for a new center that would have two theater spaces and cost around $300 million.

“This is a remarkable opportunity, no matter which of the three is the one we choose, this is extraordinary,” task force chair Jenne Britell said at a meeting in Sarasota City Hall. “I hope you and others in Sarasota recognize what an extraordinary gift it is in the city of Sarasota to have that caliber of architect.”

Committee member Michelle Hooper said, "We have an abundance of riches with the caliber of the firms we have here. We could throw a dart and be happy if it landed on any of the three. We have to choose one, but all three are world class."

The proposed center would be the centerpiece of the new Bay Park Conservancy, which is developing a park on what is now the parking lot for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall. The new center would be on the northern edge of a 53-acre site. The city also is exploring future uses for the Van Wezel, which could, under recent agreements with the City Commission, still be used as a home to some performances. Earlier agreements would have prohibited such uses for the historic, purple-hued building.

Committee member Mark Famiglio was the lone member to rank Foster as first choice, focusing on Norman Foster’s ties to Sarasota as a visitor and a former student of Paul Rudolph, one of the early proponents of the Sarasota School of Architecture who went on to serve as dean of the Yale University Department of Architecture.

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During public comments before the vote, Sarasota architect Carl Abbott noted that Foster studied the work of both Rudolph and Buckminster Fuller, “two amazing men who changed the world. He’s following those footsteps and I can’t believe there’s anyone more appropriate to create this footprint.”

Britell, Hooper and Mary Bensel, executive director of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, however, all favored Piano, though Bensel said she was more torn about the choice.

All of them cited how impressed they were with the firm’s design for the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, a sleek building that rises above a park area in Athens that has become a gathering area for the community. 

“It reflected extraordinary vision and sensitivity to a whole range of issues and it was filled with people in the piazza in front of it. It was just welcoming,” Britell said.

The committee was assigned to choose a firm that has the history, staff and background to prove it could handle the project. This was not a decision based on any design ideas, other than those from past projects.

All three firms made presentations during a day-long task force public hearing on Wednesday in the Van Wezel grand foyer.

Renzo Piano partners Mark Carroll and Francesca Becchi were joined by architect Kerry Joyce in representing the firm. Carroll said the firm has a staff of about 120-130 people and operates under “a strong philosophy and a light touch.” Carroll said that the 86-year-old Piano is “involved in everything.”

He also said, “We only take on two new projects a year and are able to give them the attention they need. We are careful on the projects we pick and careful that they’re given the proper attention.”

Once a contract is reached, the design process will begin. The Paratus Group, a project management firm, has been working with the city and foundation in working through the selection process.

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