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Every Day Modernism in Phoenix
Text: Dan Hoffman : Photo: N/A
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South Mountain Community College Performing Arts Center
We took a drive to South Phoenix the other day. Things are really hopping on that side of the River. A big, new Mexican Market on Southern and Central, housing developments, huge warehouses and stores. The new stuff has that familiar Phoenix feel of big parking lots and beige colored buildings but there is something in the air that makes it feel a bit different. Maybe it’s the rag-tag collection of old shops, farms, nurseries and houses that still cling to Central and Southern, hold-overs from the time when South Phoenix was the other side of the tracks (or the river). Maybe it’s the blacks and Latinos with their busy parking lots and smoky BBQ joints. South Phoenix is hot property now. Located close to downtown and South Mountain, the cities largest mountain preserve, it’s the next happening place.
Located off Twenty Fourth Street in the shadow of the South Mountain Preserve, South Mountain Community College was established in the sixties to serve the diverse community of farm and service workers that lived in the area. The campus is part of the Maricopa County Community College District, which has over 250,000 students on twelve campuses throughout the county-- four times bigger than ASU. The District is one of the largest in the country and offers classes in everything from cooking to philosophy.
From an architectural perspective, community colleges are the poor stepchild of campus planning. Smaller than a regular college or university and bigger than a high school, their campuses are often a hodge-podge of poorly designed, inexpensive buildings designed without the benefit of a clearly articulated campus plan. In recent years, the MCC system has raised the bar on design, employing many of the Valley’s edgy design firms for their projects.
We were in South Phoenix to take a look at one of the more dramatic results of this effort, the new Performing Arts Center at South Mountain designed by Jones Studio. Eddie Jones is one of the founding fathers of the new generation of Phoenix modernists. His work has evolved over the years. Starting with loose and playful forms inspired by Bruce Goff, it has now absorbed the more restrained and taught influences of contemporary European architects. His recently completed office building at Thomas and 44th Street and the Lattie Coor Classroom Building at ASU are some local examples of this trend.
We had seen some pictures of the Arts Center and were anxious to see the latest in Eddie’s design journey. As we drove south on 24th Street, South Mountain loomed before us, a wall of shimmering heat. It was one of those beastly summer days when your car feels like a microwave. We were taking in the big open spaces of the surrounding area when a huge box of rusted metal appeared floating against the backdrop of the mountain. Eddie is known for his use of natural materials but this was something else. We had arrived at the Performing Arts Center.
As we drove into the traffic circle in front of the building we saw Brian Farling, one of the two designers on the project. Brian is one of those bright young architects comfortable with facts and fashion. He was proud of his work on the building and was happy to show us around. He quickly led us under the large, shaded canopy at the front of the building to escape the heat, noting along the way that the canopy was actually a balcony attached to the main lobby on the second floor.
The first thing he said about the building was the inspiration for its design came early on in the project when Maria Pensiaro, the other assistant on the project, brought her violin into the studio. He said that Eddie was taken with the roughness of the case in contrast with the delicate quality of the violin itself with its smooth curves and honey-colored wood. The idea for the building was born.
The building is made up of two separated boxes. The outer box covered with rusted metal and glass and the inner box containing the theater itself. The lobby and circulation spaces occur in the space between. As we walked up the long exterior ramp to the second floor lobby we got a good view of the exterior wall with its slot windows and layered folds of rusted metal cladding. Here was Jones Studio at their playful best, transforming the rigor of the rectangular box into a dense and playful composition of light and color.
The ramp connected an adjacent grass courtyard (designed for outdoor performances) with the large second floor terrace overlooking the drop-off and main lobby. Despite the heat of the sun we could imagine what it would be like on a clear, cool Arizona night with light pouring out of the box illuminating the arriving guests. The connection between the inside and the outside is one of the real charms of building in Arizona and Jones Studio has made the most of it with this design. This being said, we were happy to walk into the cool, white painted lobby, a dramatic contrast with the rough, shed-like exterior. Brian swung open another pair of doors and there we were inside the body of the violin, a ribbon of curving wood walls wrapping around a 350-seat theater. The effect was dramatic. Brian noted that the stage can accommodate everything from a play to a full symphony orchestra but that its major function was for teaching the performing arts.
We exited the theater from the back of the stage into the sun-drenched courtyard and made our way back to the car. As we drove back downtown we realized that South Phoenix has been given a gift worthy of its interesting and diverse history. The harsh beauty of our environment can inspire great things from architects. Jones Studio has played this one right.
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