Orchestra Hall at 50: How Marvel Comics Shaped a Minneapolis Landmark
Architect Malcolm Holzman, FAIA, recalls his work on the iconic structure—and reveals the inspiration for those memorable tumbling cubes
Interview by Joel Hoekstra | October 17, 2024
Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis with its iconic wall and ceiling cubes. Photo by Courtney Perry.
FEATURE
Malcolm Holzman was just 31 when his upstart firm won the commission for Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. Founded in 1967, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates had garnered acclaim for its design of several small performing arts centers, but Orchestra Hall cemented the firm’s reputation for groundbreaking public design. Critic Paul Goldberger, weary of marble- and gold-encrusted concert hall designs like Lincoln Center (1962) and the Kennedy Center (1971), hailed the new Minneapolis venue as a breath of fresh air, calling it “one of the best rebukes to the pomposity of the red-velvet school of design.”
Holzman, a New Jersey native, had never been to Minneapolis before winning the work, but he developed a fondness for the Midwest during his time in Minnesota. Now 83, he continues to practice architecture at New York–based Steinberg Hart. (Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates disbanded in 2004.)
Malcolm Holzman, FAIA. Photo by Kreg Holt.
How did you win the Orchestra Hall commission?
At the time, the Minneapolis Symphony—later renamed the Minnesota Orchestra—was playing at Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus. But they wanted to move back downtown. [From 1905 to 1930, the ensemble had performed in the Lyceum Theater, which then occupied the current site of Orchestra Hall at 11th Avenue and Nicollet Mall.]
The symphony’s board had asked Cyril Harris, the acoustical designer who had worked on the Kennedy Center, to see if a 2,600-seat hall would fit into the old Lyceum, and Harris had hired our firm to do a study. We concluded the answer was no, and that would’ve been the end of it, except six months later we got a call: They wanted to build a new hall, at a budget of $7 million.
What were your first impressions of Minneapolis?
It was a very exciting city to visit! I was impressed by the quality of buildings. The IDS tower by Philip Johnson had just been built, and Minoru Yamasaki’s Northwestern National Life Building was exceptional, a priceless thing. Walker Art Center stood out. Minneapolis seemed like a very livable city.
How did you approach the design?
Cyril Harris told us what the configuration of the hall should be. It was essentially the Musikverein, the hall in Vienna that is the model for every shoebox concert hall that’s ever been. But we decided to orient it diagonally on the site, offsetting it from the street grid so people would take notice. The angle suggested that there was something special going on inside.
What inspired the design for the cubes in the ceiling?
To achieve the best acoustics, Harris suggested coffers on the ceiling. We thought that was too traditional, [so] Harris suggested taking inspiration from origami. We started folding paper, but that didn’t really work either. One day, as we were searching for a solution, for reasons I still can’t explain, Marvel Comics popped into my mind. In addition to Superman and Spiderman, one of the Marvel heroes is a character called the Thing. I remembered him because he had these random rocky lumps all over his body. The surface had a Cubist quality. I wondered if the hall’s interior could be covered with similar forms to diffuse and reflect the sound. I made a model of the concept—embedding the cubes in the walls and ceiling—and Harris said, “Yes, that would work!”
Photo by Travis Anderson.
How did people react?
The cubes really set the room apart from other spaces. They’re the first thing that comes to mind for anyone who has performed in the hall or attended a concert there. People describe them as clouds, ice cubes, tumbling dice. Whatever you want to call them is fine by me.
Have you completed other commissions in Minnesota?
Ten years later, I returned to Minneapolis to work on the WCCO Building. It was one of my early essays in stone (a subject I wrote a book about) and an exceptional experience. Basically, I was adding another wall to Peavey Plaza.
I haven’t had the opportunity to do other projects in Minnesota, but I have completed several buildings in the Midwest. There’s a new children’s museum and a performing arts facility, Pablo Center, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, that I worked on. Construction was recently completed on a little 300-seat recital hall I did for South Dakota State University. Recently, I began working on designs for a new project at Chadron State College in Nebraska.
Looking back, how did Orchestra Hall impact your career?
It gave us confidence. We realized the hall didn’t need to look like every other auditorium in the country. The performance space could be distinctive, a reflection of the community. There was nothing exceptional about the brick, plaster, and ash board we used on Orchestra Hall; it was how we put them together. If you blend them right, it can give you an excellent result.
It also made me fearless about making large public spaces and buildings. In Orchestra Hall, we gave people a framework for enjoying themselves. And it’s worked for 50 years. That’s gratifying.
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