Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1971 - 5

Stalking Theatre Scenography
Through the American Southwest
with Gun and Camera (Part Two)
Ned A. Bowman
University of Pittsburgh

This is the continuation of an article begun in the May,
1971 TD&T. The writer repeats his disclaimer here from
promises of objective, rounded reporting. Instead, he offers
impressions, sometimes emphasizing one facet, sometimes
another.

TEMPE, ARIZONA
The Grady Gammage Auditorium on the University of Arizona's campus is functionally just
another large multi-purpose barn conceived first for
large-group assembly, and only incidentally for legitimate theatre or other uses where intimacy is a
concern. Completed in 1964, it is among the last
projects of Frank Lloyd Wright. I will leave to
archaeologists the division of those ideas which
are Wright's from those belonging to William Wesley Peters of Taliesen Associates, who was responsible for the completion after Wright's death
in 1959.
Gammage is interesting in a piece of monumental architecture, and a welcome departure it is
from the plodding exercises in elephantine cubage
associated most closely with mid- and far western
publ ic school campuses. To begin, it makes getting
into the theatre a breathtaking spatial experience.
The use of solid expanses of roses, reds and rust
hues in entrance spaces is somehow calculated to
prepare the spectator for something very special.
And the auditorium itself is no disappointment.
Whether "floating" a balcony free from any support along the rear wall actually "disperses" any
sound waves, is debatable. The balcony structure is borne entirely from the two side walls.
But as an obvious engi nee ring feat, it is in fi ne
theatrical taste.
As in the other public buildings by Wright which
I have visited, the attention to such details as
drinking fountains, lounge seating and air conditioning outlets is praiseworthy.
The decorative pattern of circular welded tubing
on the orchestra shell's back wall is especially

THEATER DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

OCTOBER, 1971

handsome, particularly as it answers in simple
terms the relative complexity of the sculptured
geometric frieze across the proscenium arch.
I am not certain it works functionally, but the
vertical side wall lighting slot is one of the most
sophisticated solutions to that requirement I've
seen.
Backstage, planning gets considerably shorter
shrift. Theatre on campus was spread, at least at
the time of my visit, to other makeshift quarters.
Some amenities of the college road house are
present, others seemed missing. The motorized orchestra shell, designed by George Izenour, stores
against the back wall, a series of nesting portals:
sides and top integral, the whole thing tracks up
and down stage. Synchronized drive motors in the
downstage portal set take 22 minutes to draw the
shell into position or back up against the upstage
. wall.
The predictable special problems with unorthodox
geometry in the backstage plan are there (as at
Kalita Humphery's), but to the visitor they seem
not too troublesome. It's just that the space could
be used better, from a technician's viewpoint, if
arranged differently.
Outside, Wright's masterful variation of surface
textures is everywhere in evidence, particularly as
he plays off brick against concrete or exposed
aggregate. It is pleasant to note twin, carefully
raked, wheelchair ramps integrated into the landscaped plan. Little is done to hide or de-emphasize
the cars and asphalt. This supermarket solution,
or non-solution, makes one suspect the architects
did not even really try to keep cars from vi ew. The
pedestrian bridges, while not necessarily the most
efficient way to get to and from the building, are

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