New 40th St. sites on the 'cutting edge'

Architects and artists say plans for the new cinema and supermarket will fuse utilitarian function with an artistic flair. Whether you'll be there for the movies, the food or the convenient parking, the Sundance Cinemas movie complex, fresh foods market and parking garage is more than just a place to go on a Friday night -- it's a work of art, say the project's planners. The plans for the Sundance project -- which were approved by the city zoning board on Thursday -- include eight movie screens, extensive gardens, a restaurant, a tapas bar, cafes, a video library, a lecture hall and much more. And while the supermarket -- set for the ground floor of an 800-car parking garage -- will carry the foods one may find in a regular grocery store, it will also have indoor and outdoor cafes, a sushi bar, a juice bar and an emphasis on fresh and freshly prepared foods. "These are the first of what I would call a really cutting-edge building that we've done on campus for some years," Graduate School of Fine Arts Dean Gary Hack said. According to famed Boston-based architect Carlos Zapata, who designed both the theater and the parking garage building, the Sundance complex was designed not only to attract people to the cinema but to "urge them to stay" by "reinventing the movie-going experience." Unlike most movie theaters where customers come to see a movie and leave immediately afterwards, the design of the Sundance complex will encourage customers to remain and visit the various other attractions in the complex. "In this cinema we want you to stay there, instead of shuffling you through it," Zapata said. Indeed, Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official, said that the theater harkens back to 1920s-era cineplexes. And not only will the design of the buildings encourage people to stay in the building, it will also bring activity into the surrounding area, according to planners. The design of the two buildings will "bring life and energy and activity into the streets," Hack said. "All the public spaces are on the outside so people can see out and see in and the activity can become a part of the street," Hack said. The materials that will be used to construct the buildings will make the buildings somewhat transparent so that the activity inside will be "opened up to the street," Hack said. For example, Hack said, instead of placing the corridors on the inside and the theaters on the outside edge of the Sundance building, the placement of the theaters will be reversed so that the corridors will overlook the gardens in between the building and the neighboring Rotunda. And the parking garage -- which will be composed primarily of glass and metal-mesh screens -- will allow people on the streets to see the movement of people and cars inside the garage, which will not only make the building more appealing but will also make it safer, Hack said. The total project will cost about $33.8 million and will be primarily funded by the University, according to Penn Vice President for Finance Kathy Engebretson. The University will pay the $15 million construction costs of the garage. While the costs of the Sundance and supermarket buildings will be borne by the University, the operators of the theater and the supermarket will pay for the construction of the buildings' inside components. Also, the University will be gradually repaid with revenues from Sundance and the grocery store, meaning that they are in effect only loaning the construction costs.

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