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People in the Project
The Benaroya Gift
Cyril M. Harris, Ph.D. Acoustical Consultant
LMN Architects
The Benaroya Gift
In March of 1993, Jack Benaroya laid the groundwork for the hall that bears his name.
Having recently read an article by Seattle Times classical music critic Melinda Bargreen
in which Bargreen argued for a new concert hall, Benaroya met with Seattle Symphony Music Director
Gerard Schwarz to discuss his plans. Benaroya said that he was considering a major gift to the City,
and he asked what it would take to pursue the construction of a new concert hall. Maestro Schwarz didn’t
hesitate: "It's the perfect way to get this thing going,” he said, “and $15 million is the right number."
Schwarz' direct answer to Benaroya’s question inspired Benaroya to act decisively. He conferred with
his family and within a few days, Benaroya, alongside his wife Becky, made a $15 million commitment through
the Benaroya Foundation. Benaroya personally committed an additional $800,000 to help the Symphony deal with
immediate operational deficits.
The Benaroya story is the American dream writ large. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, of immigrant Jewish parents
from Lebanon, Jack and his family moved to Seattle in 1933. He graduated from Garfield High School served in the
U.S. Navy for 3-1/2 years during World War II. After his discharge, he returned to Seattle and rejoined the family
business–Consolidated Beverages. By his thirties, he felt the need for a new, creative challenge and left the family
business to carve a niche for himself in real estate.
He began his new career by building and leasing U.S. post offices to the government, as well as buildings for
lease to Pacific Northwest Bell and a number of medical and commercial buildings. He subsequently moved to larger
projects including several business/industrial parks in the greater Puget Sound area and in Portland, Oregon.
In the mid-1970s he built the Design Center Northwest and the 6100 Gift Mart Building in Seattle. In 1984, the
Benaroya holdings were sold to Trammell Crow, the nation's largest commercial real estate developer in a joint
venture with the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California Teachers Retirement System.
The Benaroya Company is now run by his son, Larry, while Jack concentrates on fund–raising for–and contributing
to–charitable and civic causes. He believes in giving back to the community, and one of his favorite quotes is by
Winston Churchill, "You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give." Significant gifts by the
Benaroya Family fund diabetes research at the Virginia Mason Hospital and Research Center, the University of Washington,
and the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1995, Jack Benaroya was inducted into the Puget Sound Business Hall of Fame, an award sponsored by
Junior Achievement,and was also the recipient of the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors'
First Citizen Award in 1998. Becky and Jack Benaroya received a 1995 Seattle Symphony Individual Arts Award
for their extraordinary commitment to the community.
Cyril M. Harris, Ph.D.
Acoustical Consultant
Cyril M. Harris has spent his entire professional life in the field of
acoustics, as a research scientist, teacher, author of numerous books, and the
acoustical designer of many performing arts facilities. At Columbia University, he has researched the
acoustical properties of building materials, room acoustics, and musical
instruments and published extensively on these subjects. Halls for which he has
been the acoustical designer include the Metropolitan Opera House (1966), Powell
Symphony Hall in Saint Louis (1968), Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in
Urbana, Illinois (1969), the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1971),
Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City (1979), and the National Centre for the Performing
Arts in Bombay, India (1980).
Dr. Harris' extensive publications serve as basic reference books for
acoustical engineers and architects internationally. They include: Acoustical
Designing in Architecture, Noise Control in Buildings, Dictionary
of Architecture and Construction, Illustrated Dictionary of Historic
Architecture, and the newly published American Architecture: An
Illustrated Encyclopedia.
In the design of auditoriums for music, Dr. Harris is a strong proponent of
tradition, employing the conventional rectangular shape of concert halls and
using classic building materials, such as wood and plaster.
In describing the qualities of a great concert hall, Dr. Harris states, "It
should have warmth. There should be tonal balance; no part of the frequency
range should be emphasized at the expense of another. The hall should have as
great a feeling of intimacy and a sense of contact with the performers as is
possible in an auditorium seating over two and a half thousand people. Clarity
of tone is important, too; it helps when the hall provides a blending of the
sound of various instruments, yet permits them to retain their individual
identities." Dr. Harris notes that the sounds produced by the performers should
be complemented to the highest degree possible by appropriate reverberation and
diffusion characteristics. To ensure that both the S. Mark Taper Foundation
Auditorium and the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall achieve
acoustical excellence, he worked closely and synergistically with Mark
Reddington of LMN Architects to create superb facilities for musical
presentations in Seattle.
Cyril M. Harris is Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Charles Batchelor
Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at Columbia University, where he
continues to teach part-time. He received his B.A. in mathematics and his M.A. in physics
from UCLA, and his Ph.D. in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
where he specialized in acoustics. He holds honorary doctorates from the New
Jersey Institute of Technology and from Northwestern University. His
achievements in auditorium acoustics have been recognized by the AIA Medal
awarded by the American Institute of Architects, the Gold Medal of the
Acoustical Society of America, the Gold Medal of the Audio Engineering Society,
the Franklin Medal from Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, the Sabine Medal of
the Acoustical Society of America, the Mayor's Award for Science &
Technology of the City of New York, and the Pupin Medal for 1998 awarded by
Columbia University.
LMN Architects
LMN Architects is acclaimed for its design expertise in meeting complex
project challenges which result in architectural works of aesthetic sensitivity
and enduring quality. Their relationship with the Seattle Symphony stretches
over a decade of design investigation and technical resolution that led to the
new concert facility for the Orchestra's performances. This effort was led by
project Partner-in-Charge Judsen Marquardt and Design Partner Mark Reddington.
Through the Benaroya Hall project and other major performing arts work, LMN is
recognized nationally as a prominent leader in the design of performing arts and
other public facilities.
The firm has been responsible for design of over 60 public events buildings
nationwide, including convention, civic and performing arts centers. LMN's
recent design work includes five performing arts projects, ranging from the
design of a world-class carillon (bell tower) concert instrument on the campus
of the Washington State Capitol, a 700-seat Performing Arts and Conference
Center in Mount Vernon, Wash., a 2,000-seat performing arts center for symphony,
opera and ballet in Memphis, Tenn., to the 2,900-seat Marion Oliver McCaw Hall
(Seattle Opera House) renovation in Seattle. The firm also designed the Wildwood
Convention Center in Wildwood, N.J., and the Washington State Convention and
Trade Center expansion in Seattle.
Established in 1979, LMN Architects has grown to 135 professionals whose
expertise has been recognized with over 75 design awards and eight design
competition commissions. The firm specializes in the design of public events and
performing arts facilities, mixed-use complexes, retail, office and educational
facilities, with projects throughout the United States.
LMN's diverse portfolio is characterized by buildings that bring a unique and
distinctive response to each assignment. The philosophy is to engage the purpose
and character of each project in its physical organization and architectural
expression. Each building design integrates the program and the people it serves
with the project's context, encompassing the physical setting, natural
environment and culture.
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