Honoring Architect Rafael Viñoly's Life and Legacy at Carnegie Hall
Rafael Viñoly
The architecture world lost a giant when the distinguished Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly died earlier this year at the age of 78. For four decades, Viñoly led his global architecture firm to international renown, bringing to life everything from airports to hospitals, sports stadiums, and performing arts centers — including one very close to my heart, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center.
Having lived in the Philly area for many years prior to moving to New York, I've attended countless performances at the Kimmel Center. I've always been inspired by how the sprawling public space invites people to come together for drinks, conversation, and community even if you're not there for a concert. According to Viñoly's son Román, director of Rafael Viñoly Architects, creating vibrant social spaces was always part of his father's mission.
"He looked at his work as something that invariably had a profoundly civic dimension," Román says on the latest episode of the Classical Post podcast. "He recognized that buildings are very capital intensive, so he always found ways to leverage those enormous investments into developing public amenities — grand, inspiring spaces that people want to spend time in. That ethical approach permeates his work throughout the world."
Outside of architecture, Rafael Viñoly had another passion: classical music. So it's fitting that a concert paying tribute to the architect's life and legacy is taking place next week at Carnegie Hall — where for decades Viñoly attended several concerts every week.
On November 28, two ensembles that perform in Viñoly-designed spaces — the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Jazz at Lincoln Center's Isaiah J. Thompson Trio — will share the stage at Stern Auditorium with violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Jonathan Biss for an evening of music honoring Viñoly.
In this episode, Román and I talk more about his father's life, the work the Viñoly Foundation is doing to extend Rafael's legacy in architecture and the arts, and how the Carnegie concert also marks the first U.S. appearance of the Maene-Viñoly Concert Grand Piano — an innovative, ergonomically designed piano Rafael helped create.
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