arts-culture

Michigan State University
Billman Music Pavilion

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University
Billman Music Pavilion

East Lansing, MI

This is a wonderfully calm and poetic addition with a beautifully balanced façade that addresses the campus to the west and drastically transformed the original entry into a dynamic, light filled space. A sensitive intervention that celebrates architectural conversation across time between old and new.

2023 Jury, AIA Detroit

Building on Bora’s deep expertise in music education, the Billman Music Pavilion nearly doubles the size of MSU’s College of Music with new acoustically engineered space for rehearsal, performance, teaching, and practice.

The transformative project takes place in the heart of the campus. It was planned with sensitivity to both the arboretum-like quality of the landscape and the historic character of the original 1940 building. While the scale, form, and material palette of the new structure carefully fit the MSU context, the generous windows, skylights, and crisp details project the forward-looking spirit of openness of the College of Music.

The project builds upon Bora’s work with the MSU College of Music since 2001 to program, master plan, design, and implement the transformation of their teaching and performance facilities. Completed phases include the rebuilding of two other performance venues, the Cook Recital Hall and the Fairchild Theater.

Find out more about how Michigan State University’s College of Music has been utilizing the new space.

Size

38,900 gsf addition; 8,415 gsf renovation

Recognitions

AIA Michigan Honor Award, 2023

AIA Detroit Architectural Honor Award, 2023

Masonry Institute of Michigan Award, 2023

American School & University Architectural Portfolio 2022, Louis I. Kahn Citation Award – Post-Secondary School

Collaborators

TMP Architecture – Executive Architect

Kirkegaard

Schuler Shook