Working with the local community as well as schools and institutions from around the world, the MAI will host workshops, public lectures and festivals. The MAI will be a venue specifically for long duration performances, lasting 6 hours or longer.

The institute will be housed in a former theatre in Hudson, New York, the birthplace of the Hudson River School, the first American Movement, which later became an indoor tennis court, then an antiques warehouse and market before falling into disrepair. Abramovic bought the theatre in 2007. OMA's design will enhance the existing structure to accommodate both the research and production of performance art and will respond to the specific parameters of long duration performance.

In order to simultaneously engage the existing structure and limit its predetermination of the performance space, a new volume is placed within the existing building's shell. This new space provides a monastic ground that is both highly flexible and controlled. Three areas around the theater allow it to expand or be reconfigured: an overlook point, a rehearsal space that can also function as a stage or backstage area, and the vertical foyer, which can be used as a spill-out zone for the main theater or allow for visitors to look back into the performance space.