This project is a performing arts center in Chelsea, Manhattan. The Rising Theater is named for its towering presence and the promotion of rising artists in the New York Area.

The project is driven by the formal play of layering two folded concrete shells to hold different programs within, connecting them with an atrium for continuous vertical circulation. By producing a folded geometry as a structure and atrium, there is a formal relationship established between the different programs and circulation between them. The folded exterior creates an axis of opaque walls letting in diffuse light according to program, and an axis of transparent glass letting in light and putting emphasis on the the concrete. Crossing the boundaries between programs is a solid experience done by the act of piercing through the concrete to cross the tower.

The public access to the High Line has been addressed by creating an entrance to the theater lobby directly off the elevated park. A separate entrance drawing up to the atrium follows the structural line work of the concrete shells similar to the line work of the railways on the High Line.