But when Mr. Cumber and Ms. O'Rourke walked into the theater's grand atrium with its four-story-high ceiling, they chatted with friends rather than working the event, which included four of President Bush's cabinet secretaries.

Rutherford came up beside him, looking past DeVore at the hologram model of Schenck's planned new parliamentary building; at the broad dome and twin pinnacles, the grand atrium and marble walkways.

But after passing through a narrow arched entry, the visitor suddenly arrives in a grand atrium.

In this audio slide show, Seabrook discusses Hadid's concept for the building, the features of its grand atrium, and the significance of MAXXI for Hadid, who visited Rome as a 10-year-old girl.

These include complete renovation of the building's grand atrium, new lighting, furniture, a cafe and an outdoor garden on the sixth floor deck.

In 2006 the inner courtyard was enclosed by the grand atrium at the southern entrance.

The rainwater will also become décor - the raw material for "Ice Falls," a three-story water sculpture in the grand atrium that also humidifies and cools the lobby.

One of the distinctive features of the building will be a grand three-story atrium, with escalators taking visitors, who will come through the existing entrance on Eighth Avenue, upward under a skylight.

"This place is so nice," Emma whispered as we walked through the grand atrium.

The other area that had many injured passengers was the balcony areas in the grand atrium.