Irvine Auditorium

The acoustical problems of Trumbauer's towering homage to Mont St. Michel were long the subject of a student myth that the building was a failed student architectural project forced on the university by an angry parent. In fact, the building's problems were the result of too much interference by the client and too weak an architect to push back. Nonetheless, Irvine is a stunning vertical space that rises into its great central tower and is made memorable by the psychedelic color of the Hollywoodesque Gothic interior. Those features were preserved in a brilliant reformulation of the interior by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, who cut away the side seating areas to resolve the acoustical problems. The removed spaces were adapted to provide needed performance rooms and a café while achieving an acoustically live hall that is now a regional showplace.