Power Center for the Performing Arts

Name of Building: Power Center for the Performing Arts

Location: 121 Fletcher Street, Ann Arbor, MI

Type: Modern, Sublimated

Scale: Large, Component

Architects: Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo

            This detail is very specific to buildings made of concrete because it has to do with how the concrete is poured to construct the walls. The walls are created by erecting a wood frame that is built up around some metal pipe or tubing and then pouring the concrete between the two spaces to make a wall. The builders start with the bottom most layer and continually build upward, framing and filling until the building is complete. The imprint that is left in the concrete is the shape of the wood frame. Because wood usually comes in specific dimensional sizes (plywood usually comes in 4’ x 8’ sheets), you see a repeating pattern along the wall. One also sees where bolts were used to hold the plywood frames together. There are six dots that are parallel and evenly spaced to, again, create a repeating pattern. It is interesting that the architects and builders chose to keep the remnants of the structure to give the building a certain feeling. It’s the idea of tectonics that we talked about in class, using the structure as ornament. The concrete walls give the theatre a sense of expressionlessness that is essential, for in the theatre you are supposed to focus on the stage. This construction and detail add a sense or ornamentation while still keeping the space neutral.