The Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) recently unveiled the design for its new aluminum-focused performing arts campus being constructed on the East Bank of the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), in collaboration with William Rawn Associates and HASTINGS Architecture, the 307,000 sq ft facility will serve as a new cultural landmark for the city, connecting downtown Nashville with the developing East Bank district.
Nashville already includes several high-profile buildings incorporating aluminum façade and shading systems, including Music City Center, the Moore Building, and portions of Nashville International Airport. However, BIG’s new plan for TPAC stands out for making the light metal the defining visual language of the project, with bundled tubes forming a curtain-like exterior inspired by music and performance.
The defining feature of the design is its dynamic façade. The building will be wrapped in aluminum tubes, creating an exterior that evokes the appearance of a theater curtain. In addition to creating a strong visual identity for the performing arts center, the aluminum tubes will frame views into and out of the lobbies.
“The façade is composed of aluminum tubes bundled like organ pipes or steel chimes, undulating from vertical to horizontal to provide openings and canopies for the audience and performers passing through,” said Bjarke Ingels, founder and creative director of BIG. “The result is like a flowing public pavilion in the park that, as the new home for TPAC, provides the inclusive and inviting character that its program and performances deserve.”
The new TPAC campus will include multiple performance venues, including spaces for Broadway productions, dance, opera, cabaret, and flexible black box performances. The design positions two main venues at an angle, creating a wedge-shaped public space between them. A cabaret and black box theater will be located at bridge level, extending the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge onto a new elevated public plaza.
The project is currently in design and is intended to become a cultural anchor for Nashville’s East Bank redevelopment. Once complete, the new TPAC will provide expanded performance, education, and gathering spaces for artists, audiences, and the broader Tennessee community.