Preserving Woodstock
by Jonathan McGaha | September 30, 2008 12:00 am
The 1960s culminated in one of the most historic musical events of all time: a three-day music festival called Woodstock. The legendary event took place Aug. 15 to 18, 1969, and featured 32 of the best-known musicians of the day. Since then, there have been attempts to duplicate the festival, but nothing quite compares to the original happening.
Located on the site of the original 1969 Woodstock Festival, the new Bethel Woods Center for the Arts preserves the location while creating a vibrant cultural destination for visitors who want to relive the experience.
Designed by Westlake Reed Leskosky, Cleveland, the multi-venue cultural center includes a Museum of Woodstock with engrossing exhibits that tell the story of the festival, its historical context and its influence on American culture. The destination extends throughout the 37 acres (15 hectares) of the original Yasgur Farm and spills out-as did the 1969 concertgoers- into hundreds of surrounding acres to recall Woodstock’s iconic magic.
The performing arts center’s sweeping roof has an understated simple beauty, inviting visitors into the octagonal lobby through a glass façade under an elegant standing-seam copper roof. The roofing contractor, RS Roofing & Sheet Metal Co., Nanuet, N.Y., used 80,000 pounds
(36,000 kg) of 16-ounce copper from Revere Copper Products Inc., Rome, N.Y., to manufacture the metal panels on-site.
The 40,000-square-foot (3,716-m2) museum is built of locally quarried stone, copper and a laminated wood structure. The building includes a 10,000-square-foot (929-m2) main exhibit gallery; 6,000-square-foot (557- m2) special exhibit gallery; 130-seat museum theater; museum shop; two classrooms; and a 4,500-squarefoot
(418-m2) events gallery. The museum explores the unique experience of Woodstock, its significance as a culminating event of a decade of radical cultural transformation, and the legacies of the 60s and Woodstock today through personal stories and profiles, multimedia exhibit displays and experiences, engaging programs and educational events.
In addition to the museum, the Pavilion Stage can accommodate 15,000 guests both under cover and on a natural sloping lawn, and the Terrace Stage is a 1,000- seat outdoor amphitheatre.
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts celebrates the natural beauty, cherished traditions and bountiful products of the area. The architecture blends into its surroundings and provides a historic and beautiful destination that allows Woodstock to live on.
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Woodstock, N.Y.
Award: 2008 North American Copper in Architecture Award Honorable Mention
Architect: Westlake Reed Leskosky, Cleveland
Roofing contractor: RS Roofing & Sheet Metal Co., Nanuet, N.Y.
Copper: Revere Copper Products Inc., Rome, N.Y.
Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/projects/preserving-woodstock/