In 1965 the University of Michigan commissioned this elegant facility with a 1450 seat auditorium. Built of reinforced concrete, the auditorium has a classical colonnade with six 8' diameter columns and a lobby wall with reflecting glass. Two glass-enclosed staircases rise to a walkway above the lobby.
"This 1,450 seat theater is adjacent to a small park. A colonnade of eight foot diameter hollow concrete columns stretching the length of the site is placed ahead of the entry lobby. These columns carry 8 foot by 6 inch deep steel box beams which span 145 feet back to the stage house. The stage, which has a modified thrust plan, is suitable for a variety of theatrical productions...."
"The lobby wall is glazed with reflecting glass set in deeply indented horizontal frames. This wall flows around two spiral stairs which lead up to the balcony. The lobby widens out on each end to provide access from a parking garage on one side and the street on the other. The reflecting glass has the effect of doubling the sense of the park during the day; at night, when the theater comes to life and the lights are on, the glass becomes transparent from the outside, permitting views of the interior of the building."
—from Yukio Futagawa, ed. Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo, and Associates, 1962-1975. p133.