
In 1941 Walter Paepcke commissioned Eero Saarinen to design a tent large enough for a full orchestra and an audience of 2,000 people. Saarinen's orange and beige tent was a circular tensile fabric affair put up only during the summer music festival. Bayer's 1965 replacement, like the original, incorporates Aspen's fresh air and mountain scenery into the performances. Bayer landscaped the tent with small water channels recalling the once ubiquitous water ditches