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Construction of the new Guthrie Theater on the banks of the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis. Newer pictures were taken in June 2006 during the Grand Opening to the public.
Fun Facts about the new Guthrie - 4,320 bolts, each 10" long and costing $10, were used on the cantilever alone. There are 430 additioanl theater seats in the new complex. There are 48 additional restroom stalls in the new facility. 40 wireless internet accesss points are located throughout the building. More than 4,000 donors helped build the buidling with their donations.

TIME MAGAZINE EXCERPT: The original Guthrie Theater, a 1963 structure by a Minneapolis architect, Ralph Rapson, happens to be next door to the Walker, which owns it and plans to tear it down soon to make way for a four-acre sculpture garden. The old theater's signal feature is its thrust stage, an innovation at the time, which juts into the orchestra section like a runway. Although inventive thrust staging became the signature of Guthrie directors--what else could they do?--there were times when they would have preferred a conventional proscenium. In the late 1990s, Joe Dowling, the Irish director who has headed the Guthrie since 1995, decided it was time to order up a new theater with multiple stages. After a review of more than 35 architects, a search committee settled unanimously on Nouvel. "We were taken by his concern for the surroundings," says Dowling. "It was important to him to connect the theater to the river and the city."

The $125 million building that Nouvel has delivered is actually three theaters: a thrust stage that seats 1,100, a proscenium house for 700 and a 200-seat "studio" for new plays. The new Guthrie, which also has its own restaurants and bars, is situated on a stretch of the Mississippi that was once a thriving industrial waterfront. Old mills and factories still survive nearby, and Nouvel looked to them for his first inspiration. "It was important to me to create a link with the history of the city," he explains. "I said to myself, 'Theater is an industry too.'"

NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE EXCERPT: THE GUTHRIE THEATER: French architect Jean Nouvel was so excited by the Guthrie site—"The Mississippi is mythic in France," he says—he insisted the theater be built 50 feet off the ground, for clear views of the river and those falls. His clients thought the idea was crazy. When Nouvel wouldn't give in, they rented a crane. Up swooped the Guthrie's director, Joe Dowling, in a cherry picker with the architect to check out the vistas. "I was quivering," recalls Dowling, while Nouvel, a bear of a man, puffed a cigar and sang "Old Man River"—in French. "Jean was absolutely right," says the director. "It was extraordinary." Nouvel got his way, but his daring didn't end with the theater's levitation. He designed a huge drum shape to house the main arena stage, an "endless bridge" that cantilevers 175 feet toward the river and an elevated passageway that connects to the scenery shop built atop a nearby garage. Then he wrapped it all in midnight-blue steel. The result is brazen, outrageous and wonderful—a building as drama queen.

Founded in 1963 by the great British director Sir Tyrone Guthrie, the original theater was famous for its asymmetrical thrust stage, re-created here in the 1,100-seat main theater. Nouvel added an elegant proscenium theater—in luscious reds—and a "black box" space for experimental work. "For the artistic community," said actor Sally Wingert, arriving at the Guthrie one recent day on her bike, "it's a giant, gorgeous playground." For the public, too, it's as inventive inside as out. Whether you're cruising up the escalators, strolling the lobby bar and cafés or wandering along that "endless bridge" with a glass of wine, you'll glimpse surprising reflections and views of the city and the river. Nouvel plays with color—one vast window is tinted ski-goggle yellow—and with illusion. At the end of the cantilevered "bridge," you encounter a big glass rectangle in the floor where, far below, you see the ground. It's a heart-stopping moment: at the new Guthrie, theatrical experiences won't be confined to the stage. Nouvel's big blue monolith sits easily among its old industrial neighbors, its curved shape echoing the grain silos. The building evokes the Guthrie's history, too. "I proposed putting ghosts on the walls," says Nouvel—and there they are: huge wispy images of past productions screened onto the exterior steel. Hokey? A little. But like much in this amazing building, the images are subtle and unexpected. Monsieur Nouvel, please take a bow.