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Milton Glaser to Design Theater in NY

Glaser is the co-founder of New York magazine and the design guru behind the "I Heart New York" logo.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 3/7/2008 12:00:00 AM

Milton Glaser, the graphic designer responsible for the iconic "I Heart New York" logo and a cofounder of New York magazine, will redesign a theater for New York’s School of Visual Arts (SVA), where he is the acting chairman. The design school recently signed a 26-year lease for the 20,000-square-foot former home to the Chelsea West Cinemas, with the intention of using the site for lectures, film screenings, class meetings, and public events.

Glaser, who also created the graphic and decorative programs for landmark New York restaurants Windows on the World in the World Trade Center and the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, will revamp both the interior and exterior of the theater, which SVA plans to open this fall.

Officials at SVA have increasingly sought to make strategic real estate acquisitions to keep pace with a historic growth in operations. In the past decade, undergraduate and graduate enrollment has increased by 25 percent and 45 percent, respectively. "This theater will play a significant role in our continuing ability to expand and diversify the curricula at SVA," says SVA provost Dr. Christopher Cyphers. "It not only satisfies a longstanding need for a space to accommodate large gatherings of the SVA community, but will create opportunities to partner with other cultural institutions."

SVA's campus in downtown Manhattan stretches from the Lower East Side and Gramercy to West Chelsea.