AD 303: Individual Art Review

A huge part of the art school here at Northern Michigan University is AD 303 -- Individual Art Review -- a pass-or-fail class that determines whether or not you can continue being an art major. It's serious, scary business and you are required not only to build a portfolio, but develop a statement of intent that clearly explains the social purpose behind your artwork. Leading up to the final review, you develop this statement of intent (presenting it to your advisor several times), create a resume, and make digital documentation of your portfolio. For the final review, you hand out your statement of intent and present your portfolio to a panel of six art professors, one of which is your advisor. You are then questioned for twenty-five minutes, and you have no prior knowledge of the crazy things these professors might ask you. And then -- you pass, or you fail.


I went through this process yesterday, and I'm pleased to report that I passed with a satisfactory grade. It's a whole lot of stress off my shoulders, and now I can focus more on other classes that I've been neglecting. The scariest part of yesterday's review was when I was asked if I considered myself to be of the modern or post-modern thought process. I froze up and admitted I really didn't know what these two schools of thought were -- oops. Yeah, pretty embarrassing, and it didn't help that the review had just started and I was still really freaking out at this point.


Anyway, besides the photography aspect, how does this relate to this Michigan Architecture Blog? My portfolio consists of twelve photographs, all fragments of buildings from the northern portion of the state of Michigan. I don't want to get into my whole statement of intent (I'm incredibly sick of reading and retyping it at this point, believe me) -- but part of it was focusing on the gradual transformation that these buildings are going through, and how their current use and appearance is often far different than how they were originally imagined, five, seven, ten decades ago.

Negaunee


Cross Village


Negaunee


Hancock


Chassell


Houghton


Negaunee


Germfask


Negaunee


Hancock


Republic


Germfask

With the exception of the photograph of the mural taken in Cross Village (just south of the Mackinac Bridge), this portfolio was compiled entirely in the Upper Peninsula, where the buildings on Main Street have a very unique look and feel.

The U.P.'s Theaters, Part One

I don't want to overrun this blog with imagery of Michigan's beautiful movie theaters, but I do feel that they are an important aspect of our state's architecture. Often overlooked are the theaters in the Upper Peninsula. Though they are much smaller and less ornate than the theaters in our state's south, those found here are quite beautiful.

The very historic Calumet Theatre was built in 1885 and is one of the oldest theaters in Michigan. Its architect was C. K. Shand. Constructed far before the invention of moving pictures, its original purpose was to show live productions. Its architecture has a classical flavor to it, showcasing Romanesque arches, a pediment, and even a clocktower.

Escanaba's former Delft Theatre is now being used as a dance club. Its architecture has a very ornate Dutch influence, with ornamented stepped gables and a steeply pitched roof.

Escanaba's other theater is the Michigan. Its simple façade showcases the skyscraper-styled Art Deco motif. Though until very recently the building served as a church, it is now being renovated and restored, to return to functioning as its proper purpose: a theater! Such happy endings aren't very common these days, so it's good to know that this theater will once again be showing movies.

The Crystal Theatre in downtown Crystal Falls is truly a gem. Built in 1927, it is a tiny and unassuming building, but the inside is surprisingly ornate. It was recently restored by the owners to its original Art Deco styling. It has one screen and even has its own, original organ.

The Vista Theatre in Negaunee is an unexpected sight in such a tiny town. It was opened in 1926 and today shows the odd live show every once in a while, its most notable production being the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Classical Orders

I hope this entry isn't too similar to the one I published earlier concerning ornamentation on column capitals -- but this goes along with what we've been learning in my architecture class, and besides, it's interesting!

There were three orders of classical columns in the ancient world. The Greeks used the first two -- the Doric Order and the Ionic Order -- the most, and the Romans, who improved upon many Greek architectural elements, used the Corinthian Order quite extensively. These columns were used both in temples and public buildings, and were usually carved from marble.

The Greeks employed a certain concept called entasis when constructing their temples. Entasis is a subtle swelling of the columns, much like the trunk of a tree. Not only does it compensate for the illusion of concavity that results from straight lines, it gives the building life. Though the columns are made from cold stone, this technique turns the temples into organic, living structures. The entasis of Greek columns, especially those of the Doric Order, begins at the base and tapers upward. Roman columns swell one-third of the way up, then return to their original circumference. Entasis is a subtle feature in ancient architecture, but is very visible in temples such as the Parthenon.

The 1800s and early 1900s brought a wave of classicism to America, not just in the Greek Revival style, but in other fashions such as Beaux-Arts and the Classical Revival, as well. With these styles came classical elements -- pediments, friezes, and denturing -- and the three orders of columns. Early on, the styles were left untouched -- they were virtually exact replicas of their Greek and Roman counterparts. As time passed, architects took creative liberties with the orders, often combining them or adding even more ornamentation to the capitals (as seen in my October 5 entry).

Doric Order



This is part of an ancient Roman structure that has been moved to the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. The Doric Order is characterized by a simple, unadorned capital, heavy, fluted columns, and the lack of a base.



The massive columns standing in front of the University of Michigan's Angell Hall are a rather faithful representation of the Doric Order.



The classical orders are found in fountains such as this in Marshall -- once again, a historically accurate version of the Doric Order, all the way down to the Greek-styled ornamentation.



The Doric columns in front of the U of M Alumni Hall (now the U of M Art Museum) are made of sandstone and lack fluting along their shafts.

Ionic Order

The Ionic Order is a graceful column topped by a capital with opposing volutes. In American architecture, architects often added ornamentation to make these columns more interesting.



The Petoskey Public Library Annex, built in 1940, showcases small Ionic columns.



A group of (wooden) Ionic columns on the Harrington Hotel in Port Huron.



The large engaged columns on the soon-to-be demolished Frieze Building in Ann Arbor are constructed in the Ionic order.



This small corner column on a building in Harbor Springs shows how American architects enhanced the Ionic Order with decorations.



The engaged columns on this church in Escanaba, built in 1938, are a hybrid between the volutes of the Ionic Order and the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian Order.

Corinthian Order

The Corinthian Order has a highly ornate column distinguished by the stylized acanthus leaves that decorate its capital. While the Doric and Ionic orders can be found on small buildings and houses, the Corinthian Order was usually saved for large banks, museums, and public buildings.



This ancient Roman column, showing the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian Order, is located on the U of M campus.



The Negaunee National Bank building also features Corinthian columns.