ARTHUR MILLER THEATER + WALGREEN DRAMA CENTER

TEMPLE LUX

Stately by day and luminous at night, the new Arthur Miller Theater commands several new courtyards on University of Michigan’s North Campus.

MICHIGAN’S GREAT PLAYWRIGHT

A new teaching theatre with support spaces for rehearsal and production occupies a key site near the school of music’s Eero Saarinen building and honours the University of Michigan’s famous alumnus Arthur Miller.

TEMPLE-LIKE PIVOT/BEACON

From the outside, the theatre is articulated as a distinct columned pavilion, clad entirely in translucent and clear glass. It attaches to one end of a linear studio/classroom building, and in doing so, frames two courtyards and becomes a luminous beacon for Michigan’s North Campus.

FLEXIBLE COURTYARD STAGE

Inside the flexible courtyard theatre, a wide thrust stage reflects the university’s pedagogical need to provide a teaching space for predominantly large-cast plays. In translation, the building is a simple layering of elements: a steel frame courtyard with seating inside, a concrete box and finally a translucent shroud of backlit glass wrapping the whole, excepting the lobby, where the glass is transparent.