Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1967 - 9

mitments for property in the Lincoln Square Renewal Project
were made by those two institutions. All of this happened
before anybody thought of a center for the performing arts.
But out of the decisions of these two initial institutions,
with a commonality of building need, came the conclusion
to embark on a larger project. The leadership of those two
institutions invited other community leaders to join in exploring the feasibility of something more than a new opera
house and a new concert hall. Out of a year of intensive
study and exploration came the affirmative decision to proceed with a center for the performing arts, a group of homes
for institutions that would embrace all the arts of live performance, including a library-museum of the performing arts
for reference and research. An educational institution serving a continuous stream of young talent in these arts was
included to complete the institutional functions. That, in essence, is the concept of the Center. Now from the very
earliest planning of Lincoln Center, it was not thought of in
terms of bricks and mortar alone but rather in terms of an
institution that would stimulate and foster the arts-that
would become a constructive force for the education, training, and creative development of these arts. So the answer
to the "why" we in Lincoln Center, with the cooperation of
the leaders of the constituent institutions, undertook to
raise the funds and to build a center, was for the dual purpose of serving the public and providing adequate homes for
these institutions.
DeGAETANI: Thank you very much, Edgar. I would next like
to reintroduce our host of the morning, Mr. Herman Krawitz,
Assistant Manager of the Metropolitan Opera and this past
year a member of the faculty of the Yale School of Drama.
KRAWITZ: I think we'll spend a little time on the word
"client" because, using Lincoln Center as an example, that
word can get a bit confused. Lincoln Center owns this building. Yet many of us at the Met consider ourselves "the
client." Lincoln Center was actually the contractor with the

architects, but we considered ourselves the users of the
building. Lincoln Center paid, we demanded. Now, it's not
that simple, but this was a basic relationship. And the reconciliation was not always easy. So, the word client does
not apply just to the one who buys the building, nor merely
to the one who uses the building; it's rather a combination
of both; probably it will get even further complicated in
other communities. I don't think there is any simple answer
as to who the client is, but I do believe that in any individual project there ought to be at least a knowledge of what
the building is going to be used for. The project must be
focused to a specific program for the use of the building,
with specific companies or institutions in mind; otherwise,
there is no client. Here at Lincoln Center we were very
fortunate right from the start. A curious thing occurred
in that all the people who planned this building are still
around. I see one of them in the auditorium. The architects
visit the building frequently. We discuss corrections with
them. We have not said good-bye to the planners. We of
the Met, the staff that planned it, uses it, we suffer the
criticism for our errors from day to day, time to time. And
in that sense, the client team and the planning team are
still the same after twelve years. I think this speaks well for
the group. On the other hand, there were many pulls, in
many different directions for many reasons. One pull, however, which was always clear was the pull of the client,
the needs of the Met, which I represented. That contributed
to the success of this enterprise. Even though we didn't
get everything we wanted in every compromise, the fact
that there was a clear-cut client-need made the planning
easier for all. Therefore, I think that the idea of a cl ient
has to be clarified in any project. What the cl ient is or who
the client is or what the client group is and what the purpose for that client is has to be specified. Too often all
this is rather hazy. It was unfortunately hazy in some of the
other buildings in Lincoln Center, and I believe this caused
some of the problems that subsequently arose.

Metropolitan Opera and the Philharmonic Hall.
Photo: John Prim
The Panel. Photo: John Primm
The Audience. Photo: H. O'Dell

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