IU Cinema

1213, East 7th Street, Bloomington, IN, United States

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IU Cinema

1213, East 7th Street, Bloomington, IN, United States

Firm

Type

Cultural › Hall/Theater
Educational › University

YEAR

2011

MASTERPLANThe completion of the IU Cinema & Theatre& Drama Renovations fulfills the visionand potential of a long range building planfor the Indiana University Performing Artsprecinct. Beginning with a Masterplanfifteen years ago, the first step of theprocess was to provide a new identityfor the University's nationally recognizedTheatre Arts program. That process led tothe design and construction of a Theatreand Drama Center in 2002, as well asidentifying a future phase of renovationfor the then obsolete original theater andflytower. In the fall of 2010 the final stageof the masterplan was realized with theopening of the revived theatre, as the homeof the new IU Cinema program, along withpractice and rehearsal spaces inserted intothe original flytower.INSERTAs identified in the Masterplan, the existingtheatre flyloft offered the opportunity toprovide new programmatic spaces for theTheater & Drama Department, while alsocreating a long awaited link between theexisting University Auditorium and the 2002construction. Because the existing flyloftwas designed as a large open volume fortheatrical rigging, the structure was notintended to support infill framing. The newspaces are therefore supported from anaddition of steel framing that is threadedinto the building with new columns,preserving the existing walls and character,and inserting new venues into the existingshell.REPURPOSEIn order to reinforce the idea of the newspaces as an insertion into the flyloft, thedesign maintains as much of the originalflyloft character as possible, exposing theexisting walls to enhance the juxtapositionof existing and new materials. The originalflyloft brick walls and steel framing are leftvisually accessible in the new Studio Theatreand Movement Studio, while the originalrigging lines, cage ladder, and grid iron areeither left in place or repurposed in the newdesign.REVIVEThe historic but obsolete original theateris restored to become a 300-seat hightechcinema for scholarly research andexhibition of modern, traditional, and silentfilms to both students and the public. Fourpanels of the Indiana Murals, painted byThomas Hart Benton for the 1933 World’sFair, were masterfully restored as part of therenovation. Taking cues from the tones andtextures of the murals, the space is revivedwith a richness of color in order to transformthe theatre to suit the needs of a teachingcinema space. As a combination art houseand repertory theater, the venue is just oneof the few university cinemas in the countryto receive the prestigious THX certificationof acoustic, sound system, and picturepresentation performance.

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MGA Partners Architects

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IU Cinema

1213, East 7th Street, Bloomington, IN, United States

IU Cinema

1213, East 7th Street, Bloomington, IN, United States

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team