Set Pieces

Element Award — Print

Frontier Design

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Working with a concept co-developed with editor Jennifer Sigler, Frontier collaborated with Diamond Schmitt and the publishing team at Birkhauser to create a book that answers a big question: why does live performance still matter? Using design details from eleven performing-arts halls created by Diamond Schmitt, the team brought together case studies and the voices of noted artists and critics to reveal how architecture enhances the impact of the performing arts and evokes enduring sensory experiences.

Encompassing such major buildings as the Mariinsky II Theatre in Saint Petersburg, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and David Geffen Hall in New York, Set Pieces highlights Diamond Schmitt’s exceptional ability to listen to constituents, collaborate with technicians and foundries and, in the words of principal Matthew Lella, “layer many small decisions, details and concepts that engage the body and trigger the senses.”