mecanoo's high-tech, timber clad dance theater opens at jacob’s pillow in massachusetts

doris duke theater opens doors at Jacob’s Pillow

Mecanoo’s Doris Duke Theater has officially opened at Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts, marking a new chapter for the long-running dance center. The vast venue replaces the original studio theater destroyed by fire in 2020 and introduces a flexible, high-tech space equipped to host both live and digitally augmented performances. Designed in collaboration with Marvel and theater consultants Charcoalblue, the project combines a mass timber structure with advanced technical infrastructure. It accommodates up to 400 audience members and is engineered to support a wide range of performance staging formats, including immersive installations and multimedia-based choreography.

all images by Iwan Baan, courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow

mecanoo grounds the timber volume in its natural landscape

Mecanoo’s design takes cues from the surrounding Berkshire landscape and responds to the site through a natural material palette and integrated sustainable systems. Thermally treated pine cladding, a green roof, rainwater collection systems, and a deep veranda that frames the wooded setting all anchor the building in its context, with the latter also lending it its modular silhouette. Surrounding landscape interventions by Marvel, developed with Indigenous artists, extend the project’s engagement with place. Sculptural stone seating, a communal fire pit, and planted gathering spaces echo the site’s layered history while offering new spaces for reflection and interaction.

The Doris Duke Theatre is part of Jacob’s Pillow’s broader initiative to expand access to dance and support new forms of creative expression. The new space opens with a diverse program of performances and installations by artists including Shamel Pitts, Andrew Schneider, Elle Sofe Company, and Huang Yi, alongside an inaugural exhibition curated by Katherine Helen Fisher that explores dance and digital interaction. A new work by Indigenous artist Brenda Mallory is also installed in the lobby, continuing the effort to reflect broader cultural narratives within the venue.

Doris Duke Theater opebs at Jacob’s Pillow

the project combines a mass timber structure with advanced technical infrastructure

the venue replaces the original studio theater destroyed by fire in 2020

thermally treated pine cladding and a deep veranda lend the theater its character

Mecanoo’s design takes cues from the surrounding Berkshire landscape

responding to the site through a natural material palette and integrated sustainable systems

the venue can accommodate up to 400 audience members

engineered to support a wide range of performance staging formats

surrounding landscape interventions extend the project’s engagement with place

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project info:

name: Doris Duke Theater

architect: Mecanoo | @mecanoo_

location: Massachusetts, USA