The REACH: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

A book dedicated to the newly constructed expansion of the Kennedy Center that provides a new topology for performing-arts centers and a view of how art is made, designed by one of America’s most influential architects.

As the first major expansion in Kennedy Center history, the REACH breaks down boundaries between audience and art. Set adjacent to the Kennedy Center along the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the REACH is set to open in 2019. As a “living memorial” for John F. Kennedy, the Center for the Performing Arts takes an active position among the great presidential monuments of the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials. Steven Holl Architects envisions the expansion of the building to fuse with the landscape and river, connecting the Kennedy Center to the Potomac riverfront for the first time: walk through a grove of thirty-five ginkgo trees, watch a free outdoor simulcast performance projected on a wall in a public park, or look out at the Potomac from a river pavilion café. The book offers a comprehensive look at the history of the project and includes programming initiatives by the Kennedy Center to memorialize President Kennedy and his significant contribution to the arts and American culture.