Kresge Auditorium
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Kresge Auditorium is an auditorium building for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located at 48 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was designed by the noted architect Eero Saarinen, with ground-breaking in 1953 and dedication in 1955. It was designed together with the MIT Chapel, the two buildings separated by a "green." The ensemble is recognized as one of the best examples of early Modernist architeture in the US. Though unassuming by today's standards, the buildings were seen as re-defining MIT's social cohesion. The Auditorium was where MIT students and faculty could gather for formal events, the chapel was intended for marriages and memorial; the green taht stretches between the two buildings, in the tradition of early-American urban planning, was to serve as the setting for civic events.
The auditorium is defined by an elegant dome, one-eighth of a sphere rising to a height of 50 feet, and sliced away by sheer glass walls so that it comes to earth on only three points. The dome is a thin concrete shell, innovative for the times, that weighs only 1200 tons; it is clad with copper. It contains a concert hall (with seating for 1226 people), with a lower level that houses a small theater (seating 204), two rehearsal rooms, dressing rooms, offices, bathrooms, and lounges. The concert hall also contains an organ.
Every seat in concert hall has an unobstructed view since there are no interior supports for the overarching dome. Working with renowned acoustical architects Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Saarinen employed free-hanging acoustic "clouds" that absorb and direct sound, instead of a traditional plaster ceiling. These clouds also contained lights, loudspeakers, and ventilation.
While standing on either side of the entry lobby, one can distinctly hear people on the other side speaking in as low a voice as a whisper.
[edit] See also
- MIT Chapel
- List of major concert halls
- Thin-shell structure
- Architecture of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
