Kansas City Performing Arts Center by Moshe Safdie and Associates

The Kansas City Performing Arts Center's design has been unveiled.

The project is slated to break ground in fall 2006.

Two shell-shaped performing halls, a concert hall, and ballet opera house - dramatically crown a southern-facing ridge opening onto a terraced garden below.

Vast glazed foyers make the most of city views while also revealing the inner programmatic workings of each space to the exterior.

At night, softly glowing from within are the theaters sheathed in wood panels forming continuous stacked balconies, a cafe, restaurant, and public areas.

Curvilinear vertical spines comprise the structure of the halls' segmented northern walls, sheathed in silvery stainless steel and glass; tensile forces are counteracted by cables anchoring the structure at the entrance level.