Venue hosts its first performances for festival in Massachusetts

Tenderstream members Mecanoo and Charcoalblue – together with Marvel - are celebrating the official opening of the new Doris Duke Theatre, which they designed for the Jacob Pillow Dance Festival campus located in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts. Jacob’s Pillow is America’s longest-running international dance festival and takes place during July and August each year. Its new theatre is the country’s only purpose-built dance theatre to open in 2025 and is set to become one of the most technologically advanced theatres in the world dedicated to dance.

Occupying the site of the former 8,500 sqft studio theatre from 1990, which was destroyed by fire in 2020, the re-imagined venue has expanded to 20,000 sq ft. The design allows for multi-use flexibility, so that the building can support performances, events, residencies, and more, sometimes simultaneously. The flexible seating arrangements can accommodate 220-400, depending on the size of the performance space, with an array of configurations.

Indigenous principles shape the orientation and form, grounding the design in an acknowledgement of the four directions, where North, South, East, and West hold meaning in Indigenous cultures. The layered structure, divided into seven bands, honours the Indigenous philosophy of the “seven generations,” where environmental consciousness plays a crucial role in shaping the world for generations to come.

Francine Houben, Mecanoo’s creative director and founding partner, said: “The design of the new Doris Duke Theatre reflects a balance of Indigenous design principles connected to nature with a robust theatrical infrastructure. For the theatre, we envisioned a magic wooden box which awakens the senses and deepens the connection between performer and audience, movement and space, light and shadow. Whether weaving through the dancing shadows of the veranda, opening the theatre to the outdoors, or being fully immersed in technology, the new Doris Duke Theatre is an architecture of connection; one where performance becomes a shared journey.”

Lucy Nordberg

Tenderstream Head of Research

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