C.Y. Stephens Auditorium, Iowa State University
Overview: |
This is both an impressive example of sculptural high modernism and a strong commitment to the cultural life of Iowa. The auditorium is an icon on the Iowa State University campus and is skillfully designed for viewing a broad range of performances. |
Project Type: |
College/University |
Region: |
Central Iowa |
Location: |
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50010 |
County: |
Story |
Year of Completion: |
1969 |
Client/Owner Name: |
Iowa State University |
Architect: |
Crites & McConnell and Brooks Borg & Skiles, Architects-Engineers
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Construction Cost: |
$4.5 million |
25-Year Award
2005 AIA Iowa 25-Year Award
When compared to other buildings of the period, this structure has a sculptural power and organic quality that is unique and evocative. At the time of its design the influence of Japanese theoretical projects baded on later buildings of Le Corbusier was of great interest to all architects. Louis Kahn's reputation was on the rise and as a result, the frank and embellished use of contempory materials and mechanical systems represents one of the major converns of designers. However there is also a residue of Midwestern audacity related to the later buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright that seems to inform this particular building. The plastic power of the central spaces enclosure and circulation elements are singularly successful and a genuine contribution to the art of architecture.
The exterior expression has a powerful sculpural quality especially in the rool form and the structure addresses the ground in an ordered and rational way. The integration of the curved forms and the rational fenestration in the end is successful but not as eloquent as the purely figural elements and spaces of the building.
Architectural taste clearly cycles between periods of creative intensity followed by periods of refinement and rationalization. One of the more interesting aspects of the architecture of this period is that it now can be seen to be a logical ancestor to much of the design currently being carried out investigating pure expressive power and complex geometry. When viewed in this light, the mastery of this structure is clear and history will certainly treat this building with the reapect it clearly deserves.
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Photo Credits: |
Cameron Campbell, AIA |
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