When the domed roof of its 3,000-seat assembly hall collapsed during a tornado in 1978, the trustees of Long Island University were faced with the decision to rebuild or abandon the facility. They decided to renovate and rebuild, re-designing the hall in the process as a far superior facility for concert music, theatre, and dance.

The building’s architects reconfigured the angled walls within the existing circular shell to better distribute sound in the concert hall. The new focus of the room became a series of reflective, hinged ‘ribbons’ that float from the back of the stage. Other elements in the new kit of parts designed with FDA’s help include a spidery lighting platform, an orchestra pit on a lift, a sprung resilient dance floor and new computer-controlled lighting.

The hall has been hailed for its warm, rich, and enveloping sound by a variety of performers and critics, from conductor Zubin Mehta to diva Marilyn Horne.