The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)'s construction was made possible by an unrestricted gift of $40 million from Nvidia co-founder and Rensselaer alumnus Curtis R. Priem '82; in gratitude for his generosity, Rensselaer named the building after him. The project was launched as part of the Rensselaer Plan, a strategic planning process to revitalize the university that began in 1999 under President Shirley Ann Jackson. Ground was broken in September 2003 with the removal of over 100,000 cubic yards of earth and the installation of 215 rock anchors to stabilize the structure's foundations into the hillside that runs along 8th Street. 

The 220,000-square foot building, which opened on October 3, 2008,  was designed by the London-based firm Grimshaw Architects and was touted by The New York Times as "The concert hall of the 21st century." EMPAC was built with a dual purpose in mind: to create a state-of-the-art venue for traditional musical performances, and to offer innovative, flexible spaces to experiment with media and conduct research. The building features a massive 20,000-square-foot glass curtain wall with mullions capable of carrying heated water to keep the interior warm during the wintry weather of Upstate New York, with this technology the first of its kind to be adopted in the United States. Additional cutting-edge technology includes a near-silent HVAC system and more than 8,000 inputs and hard-wiring to the university’s supercomputer (CCNI). 

The glass-walled structure encases a lobby, mezzanine level, a café, and four venues — a 1,200-seat concert hall, a 400-seat theater, and two studios — which exclude outside light and noise to preserve the integrity of the performances.