Rubenstein Arts Center at Duke University

Location
Durham, North Carolina

Owner
Duke University

Team
Acoustics and AV - Threshold
Architect - William Rawn Associates
Theatre Consultant - Theater Projects Consultants

Size
71,000 square feet
200-seat black box theater, a 100-seat film theater

Schedule
Completed 2017

Awards
2018 AIA - State/Regional Awards
2018 Chicago Athenaeum
ENR Southeast Award of Merit in Higher Education/Research

The Rubenstein Arts Center, dubbed “The Ruby,” reinvents the role of the arts within the university, extending Duke University’s culture of interdisciplinary study in science, engineering and medicine to the arts. Twelve flexible studio modules are tightly arranged around a central gathering space and outdoor working yard. Each studio module is deliberately non-departmental and broadly equipped to allow different disciplines to change venues or work together without impediment.

The building houses a studio theatre, the student radio station, and the Dance department. Duke’s Arts of the Moving Image program is served by an intimate screening room with digital cinema, 35mm and 16mm projection systems as well as lab and studio spaces with video and motion capture, playback, production, and editing capabilities. The Slippage Studio hosts an immersive, multimedia and dance performance program that uses video processing, motion capture, and other technology to explore the intersections of African American studies, Gender and Feminist studies, and Theater in a broad interdisciplinary institute. 

A series of spaces fitted out with dance-able floors, pipe grids lighting circuits, AV infrastructure, and even running water serve short-term research and composition projects that combine traditional visual and performing art forms with the science and engineering disciplines. Large sliding doors separate these spaces from the common space, creating a unique sense of community while allowing privacy when required.