It was playwright and poet Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe that said, “Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music.”  Our design for the San Jose Levitt Pavilion in St. James Park, supported by the Levitt Foundation and The Friends of Levitt San Jose, took its initial inspiration from music and performance. Three suspended structures flow together to form a dramatic central crescendo, then fade away into the surrounding urban forest. Dubbed the "Dragon Pavilion" by local residents due to its serpentine-like glowing form, the pavilion's suspended overlapping panels give the structures a sense of dynamism and buoyancy. In the evening these dramatic sculptural panels, set against a backdrop of tall trees and plantings, will create a light-filled icon for the park, neighborhood and city. 

The Levitt Pavilion is envisioned as far more than a performance venue — it is conceived as an extraordinary civic landmark, a monumental work of public art, and a powerful symbol of San Jose’s optimism, creativity, and long-term investment in the public realm. Rising from the landscape of St. James Park, the pavilion transforms into a dramatic sculptural canopy composed of soaring, undulating wings that appear to float above the park. By day, the structure provides shade, gathering space, and visual identity for the surrounding neighborhood; by night, it becomes a luminous cultural beacon animated by music, performance, and civic life. The pavilion itself functions as an inhabitable artwork — an immersive architectural experience that merges landscape, sculpture, infrastructure, and performance into a singular civic gesture.

Embedded within the sweeping canopy arms are integrated lighting, sound, and technical systems that allow the venue to rapidly adapt to a wide spectrum of performances, from intimate acoustic acts to operas, symphonies, film screenings, dance, and concerts of various scales. The expansive open stage and flexible lawn create a welcoming environment where visitors can gather beneath the canopy, picnic on the grass, move freely through the park, or experience performances from multiple vantage points throughout the site. The pavilion is designed not only as a destination for events, but as a framework for everyday urban life — a place for connection, exchange, celebration, and shared cultural experience.

At its core, the project reflects the belief that great public spaces must embrace the diversity and complexity of the communities they serve. Just as cities are composed of many voices, backgrounds, and forms of expression, parks must support a wide range of activities, atmospheres, and social experiences. The Levitt Pavilion and the renewed St. James Park, designed by the acclaimed Landscape Architecture firm CMG, together establish a new civic heart for downtown San Jose: an inclusive, world-class public landscape that supports culture, creativity, gathering, and participation while embodying the city’s aspirations for the future.

Date: 100% CD Phase completed January 2026
Location: St. James Park, San Jose, California

Lead Designers: Jason Kelly Johnson & Nataly Gattegno
Design Team: Brian McKinney, Carlos Sabogal, Chris Leo
Design Assistants: Ji Ahn, Alan Chiang, Ripon DeLeon, Jeff Maeshiro, Emily Saunders, , Eve Tobey, Natalie Abbott

Landscape Architect: CMG
Structural Engineer: ARUP
Historic District Consultant: Page & Turnbull

Press: San Jose’s revised preservation rules clear way for park project - Dec 2025; San Jose St. James Park and Levitt Pavilion Competition Winners Announced, World Landscape Architecture 03/15/2017; How to Remake San Jose St. James Park, Mercury News 10/12/2016; San Jose St. James Park Redesign Finalists Picked, The Mercury News 08/19/2016; San Jose: An Outdoor Music Venue Could Revitalize St. James Park, The Mercury News, 01/14/2016; What a Levitt Pavilion Would Bring to San Jose, San Jose Inside, 08/07/2014

Process