The University Auditorium

The University Auditorium was designed by William Augustus Edwards in the Collegiate Gothic style and was built between 1922 and 1924. The building features an interior with a late 14th-century hammerbeam roof applied to a cruciform structure. Carved hammerbeam end bosses feature symbols of the land-grant quadrivium, including scholars in academic caps, musicians with Greek lyres, engineers with notched gears, and athletes in leather football helmets.

In the two large windows above the east and west transept balconies, six scholars depicted in early 20th-century Art Deco style overlook the audience space. The interior design was influenced by buildings such as London's Westminster Hall and the Houses of Parliament, as well as Proctor Hall at Princeton University.

Initially, the auditorium was planned to be the first unit of an imposing administrative building with a massive central bell tower. By 1924, only the auditorium portion had been built. The administrative plan eventually became Tigert Hall on SW 13th Street, while the bell tower plan became the adjacent Century Tower in 1953.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons