Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium
Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium
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| Address | 1200 South Forest Avenue Tempe, Arizona United States |
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| Owner | Arizona State University |
| Capacity | 3,017 |
| Opened | 1964 |
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| Broadway Across America | |
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Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium
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| Coordinates | 33°24′58.67″N 111°56′17.08″W / 33.4162972°N 111.9380778°WCoordinates: 33°24′58.67″N 111°56′17.08″W / 33.4162972°N 111.9380778°W |
| Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Architectural style | Usonian |
| NRHP Reference # | 85002170 |
| Added to NRHP | September 11, 1985 |
The Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium is a multipurpose performing arts center located in Tempe, Arizona within the main campus of Arizona State University (ASU). The auditorium, which bears the name of former ASU President Grady Gammage, is considered to be one of the last public commissions of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Gammage stands as one of the largest exhibitors of performing arts among university venues in the world, featuring a wide range of genres and events.
The Auditorium is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
According to historical content produced by Arizona State University, the process that would eventually lead to the historic Gammage Memorial Auditorium began in 1957 when incumbent ASU President Grady Gammage desired a unique auditorium for the ASU campus. In 1956, a campus facility serving as both an auditorium and gymnasium was rendered unusable due to a collapsed roof, likely forming the first event in the chronology of the new auditorium’s development. Gammage successfully recruited friend Frank Lloyd Wright to take part in the design of the new auditorium, who would, with various budget related alterations, base its design on an opera house that he had conceptualized for the city of Baghdad, Iraq sometime prior upon the invitation of King Faisal II. All intentions for the Baghdad opera house, a feature of the Plan for Greater Baghdad, were effectively abandoned after the King's assassination in the 14 July Revolution. Wright is also said to be responsible for the 1200 South Forest Avenue location of the circular auditorium, a site which was then occupied by an athletic field, and earlier by G.I. housing units. Wright’s contribution to the blueprint of the concert hall seized upon his death in 1959 (coincidentally the same year Grady Gammage expired), leaving protégé William Wesley Peters to undertake its completion. Spearheaded by the R.E. McKee Company, construction of the facility commenced in 1962 and completed twenty-five months later, officially opening on September 18, 1964, in time to host The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy.
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