Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall underwent sweeping renovations in 2009.

A 1969 view of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts: at right, you can see how Broadway passes in front of the old Alice Tully Hall, slicing a triangle shape into the front of the block.

The original façade of the Julliard School was set back from the street by a large expanse of pavement (filling the triangle created by Broadway).

A transformed Alice Tully Hall, its prow extending out over the triangle corner of the block. Lincoln Center’s renovation committee asked for a building that was more open to the street life of New York City. 

The Julliard School Dedication Concert held in Alice Tully Hall, October 1969. 

In 2009, the architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro renovated and streamlined Alice Tully Hall and created its distinctive “blush” by lighting thin wood veneer panels from behind with warm rosy lights. 

Violinist Cho-Liang Lin played dozens of times in the old hall, and says the renovated Alice Tully Hall is a vast improvement: "You feel on stage the audience is more enveloping you. There's an extra glow. There's an extra cushion to the sound that makes it more silky."

Australia's iconic Sydney Opera House (completed in 1973) was one of the first examples of destination architecture. But as Victoria Newhouse points out, it still struggles with acoustic problems.

Built at a cost of almost a billion dollars, Norway's Oslo Opera House (completed in 2008) has an unconventional exterior. Its rooftop promenade has become a popular walk for Oslo residents.  

For a new opera house in Guangzhou, China (completed in 2010), Zaha Hadid chose a radically different design for its concert hall: the traditional horseshoe shape is asymmetrical. 

The Guangzhou opera house is just as unconventional on the outside, perching on a patch of grass like a spaceship that’s just touched down.