Elegant and technological, environmental and innovative, the new Valley Performing Arts Center at CSUN is a $125 Million Dollar concert hall that also provides space for an adjoining lecture hall and student radio station.

Designed by Kara Hill, a Minneapolis architect practicing with HGA Architects and Engineers, the theatre is a glassy and rhythmically lively sweep of undulating ceiling panels indirectly lit by energy efficient illumination. Subtle, understated and soft, VPAC brings a cool Scandinavian sensibility to hot Southern California.

173 new trees shade and protect 30,000 square feet of glass covering the 1,700 seat, multi-purpose performance hall. The landscape architect is Stephen Billings of the Santa Monica firm Pamela Burton & Co whose water saving innovations will save money and provide another place to hide from the monstrous sun that will soon bake the San Fernando Valley as Spring approaches.

The only disappointment upon leaving the rarified grounds of the VPAC, is driving back into the sprawling grossness of Northridge with its brown air and miles of asphalt, traffic, and speeding drivers.