AIA Welcomes Jack O'Brien & David Rockwell for ARCHITECTURE AND THEATER Event Tonight

The American Institute of Architects' New York Chapter (AIANY) will host Architecture and Theater - Redefining the Performance Experience tonight, Wednesday, January 14, at 6:00 p.m. The event, a conversation between award-winning architect and set designer David Rockwell, AIA and Tony Award®-winning director/producer/writer/lyricist Jack O'Brien and moderated by Chee Pearlman, is open to the public and will take place at the Center for Architecture (536 LaGuardia Place).

Rockwell and O'Brien will engage in a conversation on the transformation of the theater and set design. As the stage and the audience have become one, the theater has evolved into a flexible space with multiple points of interaction. New technologies, including digital media, have brought another dimension to the theater experience. Led by Chee Pearlman, an internationally regarded design editor, the panel will discuss their work and collaborations, including Hairspray, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Catch Me If You Can. In addition to the panel, there will be a book signing for David's newest publication, "What If . . . ?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell."

Members of AIA can register for the event by clicking here. Non-members can purchase tickets, priced at $10, at the door upon entry.

Widely admired for his sophistication, creativity and exuberance, David Rockwell is one of the leading architects, interiors architects and set designers working today. For over 30 years, he has explored his desire to imagine new worlds, to tell stories and to engage with others. This interest is rooted in his sense of play and possibility--an endless curiosity that continually drives him to ask, "What if?" What if you could step inside a crystal goblet? What if your environment transformed with every step? What if a restaurant could vanish at a moment's notice? What if your ultimate escapist fantasy was real? What If...? presents a wide array of Rockwell's brilliant explorations of the rich intersection between architecture and theater. Through immersive imagery and behind-the-scenes details, Rockwell introduces readers to 35 projects, from initial driving idea through physical realization. Works include the famed Nobu Fifty Seven and the newcomer TAO Downtown in New York, the W Paris Opéra, the West Lobby at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas and the newly opened TED Theater in Vancouver; set designs for the Academy Awards, Kinky Boots and Hairspray; the Hall of Fragments at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale and Jamie Oliver's traveling teaching kitchen, the Food Revolution truck. Engaging texts by Tony Award-winning playwright and screenplay writer John Guare, Tony Award-winning director and producer Jack O'Brien and Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Justin Davidson--written specially for this publication--and a conversation between Rockwell and acclaimed architect Elizabeth Diller round out this spectacular, celebratory volume. Published by Metropolis Books, What If... ?: The Architecture and Design of David Rockwell will be available in stores beginning on November 30, 2014.