John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on the Potomac waterfront is the national cultural center of the United States, opened in 1971, seven years after the death of the president who in 1958 had signed the original act. Architect Edward Durell Stone designed an elongated white marble box with a tall colonnade in late modernist style, bundling the Concert Hall, Opera House and Eisenhower Theater under one roof, with nine venues in all seating from 160 to 2,465. The Grand Foyer stretches 192 meters past Robert Berks's 18-ton bronze bust of Kennedy and 18 crystal chandeliers gifted by Sweden. Since 1978 the building has hosted the Kennedy Center Honors recognizing lifetime achievement in the performing arts. Its roof terrace offers an open view across the Potomac to the Watergate and Roosevelt Island.