The 2002 renovation of Symphony Space designed by James Stewart Polshek in collaboration with Paula Scher marries architecture and graphics to give the community-based arts organization a physical presence to match the quality of its cultural activity. The signage program incorporates the identity and typography designed by Scher. The interior renovation preserves the existing auditorium but expands the facility into a two-theater performing arts space by uniting it with the adjacent Thalia Theater, a repertory movie house. Outside, a new marquee awning connects Symphony Space to the Thalia, extending its reach out over the corner of 95th Street and Broadway and using the building’s architecture and graphics to talk to the street.

“Looks formal—almost severe—because of the use of metal, but it really holds together.”