(MUSIC)
Announcer: GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY
AND WELCOME INSIDE THE STATE FARM CENTER IN CHAMPAIGN
FOR FIGHTING ILLINI BASKETBALL.
THE OPPONENT TONIGHT THE NC STATE WOLF PACK
FROM RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA.
THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN...
Announcer: HERE IS HILL, HILL ZIGZAG DOWN THE LANE,
LAYUP, GOT IT!
CROWD ON ITS FEET AT STATE FARM CENTER!
Female Narrator: IT WAS A NIGHT THAT
MAX ABRAMOVITZ WOULD BE PROUD OF.
IT IS WHY HE DESIGNED THIS SPACE.
MAX ABRAMOVITZ DESIGNED BUILDINGS AROUND THE WORLD
AND LEFT HIS MARK ON HIS ALMA MATER.
HE CREATED TWO OF ILLINOIS' MOST ICONIC BUILDINGS -
THE ASSEMBLY HALL AND KRANNERT CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS.
James Warfield: WHEN YOU WALK IN A DOOR
AND YOU CAN SEE 16,000 PEOPLE,
THAT'S THE ART OF ARCHITECTURE.
NOT EVERY BUILDING IS GOING TO ALLOW YOU
TO CREATE A WORK OF ART,
BUT IF YOU DON'T START OUT THINKING THAT WAY
YOU'LL NEVER CREATE A WORK OF ART.
Narrator: MAX ABRAMOVITZ WAS BORN IN 1908
ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO.
HIS PARENTS WERE JEWISH IMMIGRANTS
AND HIS MOTHER SPOKE ONLY YIDDISH.
SHE COMMUNICATED TO HER CHILDREN THROUGH SONG,
OUT OF CONCERN THEY WOULD INHERIT A HEAVY ACCENT.
Kurt Baumgartner: HE CERTAINLY DIDN'T GROW UP AN ARISTOCRAT,
HE CAME FROM VERY HUMBLE BEGINNINGS.
Katherine Abramovitz: THE FIRST INCLINATION OF HIS INTEREST
IN DESIGN WAS HE SAID HIS FATHER LET HIM DESIGN THE WINDOWS
IN THE LITTLE GROCERY STORE THAT THEY HAD.
HE WENT TO WORK IN A BANK
AND HE WAS POLISHING THE BRASS NUMBERS
AND I DON'T KNOW WHY BUT AN OLDER WOMAN IN THE BANK SAID,
"YOUR LIFE IS WASTED HERE,"
AND SHE GAVE HIM THE MONEY TO START
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
SO HE WENT DOWN THERE
AND STARTED IN THE ARCHITECTURE PROGRAM.
Aaron Brakke: THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS IS ACTUALLY
THE SECOND SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE COUNTRY.
WE HAVE A TRAJECTORY OF ONE THAT COMBINES CREATIVITY
WITH INNOVATION.
Narrator: MAX EXCELLED IN HIS CLASSES,
BUT HE STRUGGLED TO PAY TUITION.
THE UNIVERSITY WAS ABLE TO FIND HIM WORK AS A DISHWASHER
SO THAT HE COULD FINISH HIS STUDIES AND GRADUATE.
Kurt Baumgartner: HE LEARNED WHAT HE COULD IN THE MIDWEST.
YOU KNOW, WITH GREAT ASPIRATIONS,
ONE CERTAINLY WANTS TO TEST THE WATERS.
Aaron Brakke: HE WAS FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO TRAVEL TO FRANCE
AFTER HIS STUDIES IN THE UNITED STATES WITH THE BEAUX ARTS.
HE ALSO RECEIVED THE ROME PRIZE,
SO HE WAS ABLE TO REALLY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE TRIPS
TO EXPLORE THE WORLD AND HE BECAME MORE AWARE OF
HOW PEOPLE USED SPACE,
AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S WAY AHEAD OF ITS TIME
BECAUSE RIGHT NOW THIS IS A VERY URGENT MATTER
THAT WE'RE CONSIDERING 50 YEARS LATER.
HE HAD SOME VERY INTENSE ENCOUNTERS WITH NAZI GERMANY.
HE FOUND HIMSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF RALLIES
THAT JUST SPROUTED UP IN PUBLIC SPACES.
Narrator: DURING ONE OF THESE RALLIES,
MAX AND A FRIEND WERE STOPPED AND QUESTIONED BY A SOLDIER
WANTING TO KNOW WHY THEY WEREN'T GIVING THE NAZI SALUTE.
WEARING BERETS, THEY WERE THOUGHT TO BE FRENCH
AND WERE ABLE TO ESCAPE WITHOUT ANY ALTERCATION.
BUT THE EXPERIENCE STAYED WITH MAX.
Katherine Abramovitz: HE VOLUNTEERED TO ENTER
WORLD WAR II.
HE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO GO BECAUSE HE HAD TWO CHILDREN
AND HE WAS OVER THE AGE,
BUT BEING JEWISH HE FELT HE WANTED TO GO.
HE WAS SENT TO JOIN THE FLYING TIGERS IN CHINA.
Archive Footage: TAKING OFF FROM AIRFIELDS
LITERALLY PAVED BY HAND,
AMERICAN FLYING TIGERS!
Katherine Abramovitz: HE DESIGNED BRIDGES AND AIRFIELDS
AND HOUSING FOR THE SOLDIERS.
Kurt Baumgartner: ALL OF THOSE VERY DIVERSE PLACES AND ISSUES
AND EXPERIENCES KIND OF CAME TOGETHER AND HELPED HIM
MAKE SOME OF THE DECISIONS AND INFLUENCED HIS ART
AND ARCHITECTURE.
James Warfield: YOU LEARN, YOU JUST LEARN.
YOU CAN'T LEARN WITHOUT KNOWING, WITHOUT SEEING.
Narrator: RETURNING TO THE STATES,
MAX SETTLED IN NEW YORK AND QUICKLY MADE PARTNER
WITH A STYLISH, UP-AND-COMING ARCHITECT
NAMED WALLACE HARRISON.
HARRISON AND ABRAMOVITZ BECAME ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
AND INNOVATIVE ARCHITECTURE FIRMS OF THE POST WAR ERA.
Kurt Baumgartner: THEY COMPLIMENTED EACH OTHER
BECAUSE THEY WERE SO VERY DIFFERENT.
THEY WOULD WORK TOGETHER AS A TEAM
THAT DID JUST AN UNBELIEVABLE VOLUME OF WORK.
Narrator: THEIR WORK INCLUDED THE UNITED NATIONS BUILDING
AND THE PHILHARMONIC HALL AT LINCOLN CENTER,
ONE OF THE CROWNING JEWELS OF THE NEW YORK ARTS SCENE.
Aaron Brakke: WHEN IT OPENED UP JACQUELINE KENNEDY WAS THERE
AND IT WAS THE FANFARE OF THE ARCHITECTURAL SCENE.
MANY SAW THIS AS THE NEW ARCHITECTURE THAT WAS ABLE TO
EMBODY SOME OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ORDER OF THE PAST
BUT ALSO BRING SOMETHING DYNAMIC TO THE URBAN SCENE
OF NEW YORK AT THE TIME.
Narrator: IT WAS THAT SAME INGENUITY
HE WOULD BRING WITH HIM TO KRANNERT CENTER
FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS AT ILLINOIS.
KRANNERT NEEDED TO BE A SPACE THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER MUSIC,
DANCE, AND THEATER.
MAX'S BRILLIANT DESIGN ALLOWED FOR FIVE SEPARATE
PERFORMANCE SPACES IN ONE COMBINED, COHESIVE SPACE.
SOMETHING UNHEARD OF AT THE TIME.
James Warfield: THE FIVE THEATERS ARE MEANT TO BE USED
IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
THERE'S ONE FOR PLAYS AND ONE FOR OPERA AND ONE FOR CONCERT
AND THE OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATER AND THE BLACK BOX.
KURT BAUMGARTNER: IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE INTIMATE
BUT ALSO IT HAS A VERY VAST ARRAY OF DEMANDS PLACED ON IT.
IT'S AN INCREDIBLE ASSET TO HAVE A WORLD-CLASS
PERFORMING ARTS CENTER IN A SMALL CITY
IN THE MIDDLE OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS.
Max Abramovitz: IT'S A GREAT THING FOR THE UNIVERSITY
AND A GREAT THING FOR THE COMMUNITY AND OF COURSE
I GET AN ADDED DIVIDEND OF HAVING THE FUN AND PLEASURE
OF TRYING TO SEE WHAT I CAN PRODUCE.
Kurt Baumgartner: HIS PROJECTS WERE RELATIVELY CUTTING EDGE
AND SO THE FIRST REACTIONS TEND TO BE KIND OF NEGATIVE
AND FIVE-TEN YEARS LATER THEY'RE AHEAD OF THEIR TIME,
INNOVATIVE, WE LOVE THEM, WE CAN'T DO WITHOUT THEM.
AND CERTAINLY ASSEMBLY HALL IS LIKE THAT.
James Warfield: WELL, I LOVED IT FROM THE BEGINNING.
I THINK IT'S ONE OF THE GREAT BUILDINGS OF THE WORLD.
MY DORMITORY WAS SCOTT HOUSE,
WHICH WAS RIGHT ON AXIS THROUGH THE FOOTBALL FIELD
AND SO I WAS ABLE TO LOOK MY FRESHMAN YEAR AND SEE NOTHING
AND THEN SEE IT RISE OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
Narrator: FOR THE ASSEMBLY HALL,
MAX WANTED THE INTERIOR SPACE TO PROVIDE
AN UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW FOR EVERYONE INSIDE.
WHILE STROLLING THROUGH A MARKET IN NEW YORK,
HE STUMBLED UPON A WRINKLED SQUASH.
THE PATTERN OF THE SQUASH INSPIRED HIS DESIGN
FOR AN UNDULATED ROOF.
THE FORM WAS NOT ONLY BEAUTIFUL BUT STRONG.
AT 400 FEET IN DIAMETER,
IT WOULD BE THE WORLD'S LARGEST UNSUPPORTED DOME.
Katherine Abramovitz: THE ENGINEERS SAID
IT COULDN'T BE BUILT, AND HE SAID OF COURSE IT COULD.
IT'S JUST TWO PLATES SORT OF LIKE SCALLOPS
AND YOU MAKE THEM LIKE THIS AND YOU WRAP A LONG WIRE
AROUND WHERE THEY JOIN.
AND ONE PRESSES DOWN, ONE PRESSES UP.
Kurt Baumgartner: AND MAX CERTAINLY WAS MORE THAN HAPPY
TO PUSH THE LIMITS OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND IN THAT SENSE
IT'S HOW YOUR WORK STANDS THE TEST OF TIME
BECAUSE IT'S NEW WHEN YOU DO IT
AND IT'S THE EXAMPLE FOR DECADES.
James Warfield: IT WAS FOR THE ICE CAPADES,
IT WAS FOR MAJOR CONCERTS, IT WAS FOR THEATER.
WHAT IT ALLOWED WAS FOR ALL THESE THINGS TO COME TO
CHAMPAIGN-URBANA.
Narrator: FOR OVER 50 YEARS, MAX'S BELOVED ASSEMBLY HALL
DESIGN HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME.
RENOVATED IN 2016, THE NEWLY NAMED STATE FARM CENTER
IS STILL THE PLACE FOR SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS.
Kurt Baumgartner: IF YOU WENT TO SCHOOL HERE,
YOU'VE BEEN IN ASSEMBLY HALL OR STATE FARM CENTER,
YOU KNOW THAT'S PART OF BEING A UNIVERSITY STUDENT.
I DON'T THINK YOU CAN SEPARATE THE BUILDING
FROM THE UNIVERSITY ANYMORE.
I THINK HE WOULD BE VERY PLEASED THAT IT'S STILL HERE.
AND I THINK IN THE END THE ARCHITECTS DID
A VERY SENSITIVE JOB.
Katherine Abramovitz: HIS STORY SHOWS THAT YOU CAN START
WITH NOTHING AND END UP WITH A GREAT REPUTATION
JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR TALENT.
James Warfield: THERE SHOULD BE A REAL SENSE OF PRIDE.
HE REPRESENTS WHAT WAS IMPORTANT AND WHAT IS IMPORTANT
ABOUT ARCHITECTURE AND ABOUT ARCHITECTURE AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
OF IT BEING FOR PEOPLE, OF IT BEING AN ART,
OF IT BEING MONUMENTAL AT TIMES, OF SERVING CULTURE,
AND MOVING THE SPIRIT.
Katherine Abramovitz: HE HAD A WONDERFUL ENJOYMENT OF LIFE.
HE HAD EVERYONE CALL HIM MAX.