The University of Connecticut campus in Storrs is about to get a new arts centre designed by Frank Gehry. The award follows a $75,000 design competition underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts. The UConn building features Gehry’s trademark undulating stainless steel roofs. Arresting and even whimsical as is the Gehry design, a determining factor in its selection was how it related to the rest of the campus and the new village green planned for 35 acres directly across Storrs Road. Herbert S. Newman and Partners, a New Haven architectural firm, teamed with Gehry to produce a building where campus movement flows through the arts centre and out to this new village centre. Gehry’s building will be fitted among and rise over existing arts buildings. It will include the puppetry school, a 500-seat theatre and a 540-seat concert hall. Work on creating a town centre for Storrs could start as early as next spring. Construction on the arts centre may start the following year.
