Photos

Walt Disney Concert Hall, at the Music Center Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County.

Designed by internationally renowned architect, Frank Gehry, the 293,000-square-foot Concert Hall features a wavy, steel exterior designed to look like a ship with its sail at full mast. Gehry wanted to create the feeling of traveling along a ceremonial barge to music. The centerpiece of the Concert Hall, a 2,265-seat auditorium with natural lighting in which the audience surrounds the orchestra, was designed to look and feel like the ship's hull. The auditorium's curved wood ceiling is meant to evoke the feeling of billowing sails. The "vineyard" shape of the Hall with its curved wood ceiling is designed to retain the superb acoustical characteristics of a traditional "shoebox" style concert hall. Audience members surround the orchestra platform for a uniquely interactive and intimate experience.