COLLECTION NAME:
Archivision Base to Module 9
Record
Preferred Title:
Kresge Auditorium
Image View:
The west elevation, looking east
Creator:
Eero Saarinen (American architect, 1910-1961)
Location:
site: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
Location Note:
48 Massachusetts Avenue
Date:
1950-1955 (creation)
Cultural Context:
American
Style Period:
Modernist; Modern
Work Type 1:
auditorium
Work Type 2:
concert hall
Classification:
architecture
Material:
concrete; steel; glass
Technique:
construction (assembling)
Subjects:
architectural exteriors; music; Education; Performing arts
Description:
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," referred to by students as the "Kresge Oval." The ensemble is recognized as one of the best examples of mid-Century modern architecture in the US. Though unassuming by today's standards, the buildings were part of an attempt to define 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 that 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 thin-shell structure, one-eighth of a sphere rising to a height of 50 feet, and sliced away by
Collection:
Archivision Addition Module One
Identifier:
1A1-SO-KA-A1
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.
Kresge Auditorium
