Building History

A team of architects and designers collaborated with Stanford University administrators and Music Department faculty on the design of Dinkelspiel Memorial Auditorium, opened in 1957. The group included the theatre design consultant, Archibald George Lauterer (1904-1957), architect Milton T. Pflueger (1907-1993), the architect Eldridge T. Spencer (1893-1978), who also served as Stanford's Director of Planning, and the head of the Stanford Music Department (between 1947 and 1973), William Loran Crosten (1909-2001). The magazine Progressive Architecture said of Dinkelspiel Memorial Hall soon after its opening: "The main, 728-seat Florence Hellman Dinkelspiel Memorial Auditorium minimizes the separation between performance and audience--there is no proscenium and the stage curves out into the seating area. An orchestra pit for 80 musicians can be covered to increase stage area. Exceptional lighting allows 'at least 500 angles of light.' According to Lauterer, emphasis on light and motion reduces use of painted scenery; results in operating economy and increased flexibility." (See "'Theater of Tomorrow' Emphasizes Light and Motion," Progressive Architecture, vol. 38, no. 7, 07/1957, p. 87.)

PCAD id: 4245