“Two jewels in a glass box,” is how the architect described The Kimmel Center.

Kimmel Center Philadelphia
The Perelman Theater (with the roof garden) on the left and Verizon Hall on the right

The Kimmel Center has been home to the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2001. It is located in Center City (a few blocks from City Hall) on the section of Broad Street called “Avenue of the Arts” – along with several  other art venues and the University of the Arts.  In addition to the orchestra, the building is home to other local music and dance organizations, a fancy restaurant, and LOTS of art.  The central plaza is open daily, and is the site of frequent free live performances and showings of contemporary art (plus free Wifi).

 

 

Free 1-hour building tours are given daily at 1:00 (sign up starting at 10:00 each day at the visitor desk – there is a  maximum of 20 people per tour).  Along with architecture facts:

Kimmel Center Philadelphia
The building is covered with 5808 glass panels that shift in the wind

and great views from the roof garden:

 

 

the tour takes you inside the (smaller) Perelman Theater , with its rotating stage (a model shows how the stage rotates to provide 2 different staging options):

 

 

and (larger) Verizon Hall, which gives the feeling of being inside a viola (and is home to the largest concert hall organ in the US):

 

 

They also run a special Art/Architecture tour one Saturday each month.

https://www.kimmelcenter.org/plan-your-visit/free-tours/

Tobey says: Surprisingly interesting