 A
prominent feature of the 1927 Detroit Institute of Arts building
is the 1200 seat auditorium, designed by Paul Philippe Cret as a
venue for film, lectures and live performances. Now regarded as
one of the most important architects of large-scale American
civil engineering projects during the early 20th century, Cret
was fluent in both modern as well as neoclassic styles. He was
also a pioneering industrial designer, whose visionary
Burlington Zephyr streamliner locomotive is now on permanent
display inside the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. For
the DIA Auditorium Cret collaborated with Detroit architect C.
Howard Crane, designer of several lavish Detroit theatres of the
1920s such as the Fox. The auditorium combines Cret's elegant
sense of space and occasion with Crane's theater engineering
sophistication.
Innovative elements of the auditorium include ceiling and
walls that were designed around the extensive classical pipe
organ built by Cassavant Freres of Montreal. The mezzanine level
Crystal Gallery reception space features a two-story, vaulted
gallery with floor to ceiling crystal reflecting walls on either
end. Many decorative elements, such as the wrought iron interior
grilles by Samuel Yellin and colorful fountains and terra-cotta
tiles along the staircase from Detroit's Pewabic Pottery,
represent the highest level of American craftsmanship from the
era. |
