thLMoh

-side

I



D The Michigan Daily I michigandaily.com I Thursday, March 31, 2011
weekend
STRUCTURES\DEC NSTRUCTED essentials

ON STAGE
Get out those danc-
ing shoesfor Michigan
Pops Orchestra's annu-
al spring concert at
the Michigan Theater
Sunday at 7 p.m. Music
director Yaniv Segal will
lead the ensemble in a
program of orchestral
dance pieces, including
numbers from Tchai-
kovsky's "The Nut-
cracker." The show will
also feature medleys of
toe-tapping tunes by
Michael Jackson and
Lady Gaga. From $5.
CONCERT
Indie guitar god and
Dinosaur Jr. frontman
J Mascis is coming
to Ann Arbor on tour
for the promotion of
his new solo album,
Several Shades of Why.
However, look for his
ear-splitting feedback
and distortion another
time, because J's first
solo album is unchar-
acteristically acoustic.
J will play the Blind
Pig tonight. Doors
open at 9 p.m. and
tickets start at $18.
FILM
Looking for a perfectly
safe, Oscar-bait film
that pushes no bound-
aries and does nothing
new? Go rent "The
King's Speech." If you'd
rather watch something
relevant, a portrait of
a social phenomenon
and the egomaniacal,
diabolical genius at its
center, come to the
Natural Science Audi-
torium at 7 p.m. tomor-
row for a David Fincher
treat. "The Social Net-
work" for Best Picture!
4.

AT THE MIC
Tonight, the Indian
American Student
Association will pres-
ent "Michigan's Got
Talent," an annual
event open to any-
one on campus. The
lineup includes a
number of individual
students and campus
groups like Cadence,
the Michigan Bhangra
Team, and FunKtion.
The show begins at 7
p.m. and takes place
in the University Club
of the Union. Free.

Delving into Dennison
By Lucy Perkins // Daily Arts Writer
In name alone, the University is packed with pres-
tige, and in realitythe campus doesn't disappoint. The
Diag, the Law Quad, Hill Auditorium and Angell Hall
do an inspiring job to ceaselessly impress prospective
students and visiting parents. But some structures
don't frequently leave the same impression - build-
ings like the David M. Dennison Building.
Seven of 11 students randomly interviewed by The
Michigan Daily said that Dennison was their least
favorite building on campus. In the opinion of LSA
freshman Adam Oxman,- there are several things
working against it.
"It's old," he said. "(It) doesn't look like much
thought went into the architecture, classes are small,
it smells bad, very hot."
According to a Michigan Daily article published on
Sept. 29, even Provost Philip Hanlon believes Denni-
son is in need of renovations, citing a need to change
the poor acoustics and flat-floored classroom struc-
ture.
Former University Provost Teresa Sullivan, now
president of the University of Virginia, was also
reported calling the building's classrooms "crummy"
and in need of a technological upgrade.
Architecturally, the building doesn't have much to
say either, according to Robert Fishman, a professor
See DENNISON, Page 4B

All about Angell
By Lauren Caserta// Daily Arts Writer
You place one foot on the first white step, feel-
ing the reassuring solidity of the massive stone slabs
beneath your sandal. You carefully avoid the watchful
eyes of the ancient figures sculpted into the building's
expansive face. As you slowly ascend, you can't help
but humbly admire the line of majestic Doric columns,
stretched like enormous tree trunks from the polished
floor of the portico up to the building's intricately
carved cornice. Are you a Roman senator preparing
to give a weighty speech? A citizen of ancient-Greece
coming to pay tribute to an angry god?
Actually, you're just late for your English lecture.
Angell Hall is just one of the four buildings collec-
tively referred to as the Angell Hall complex. A series
of interconnected halls, the complex houses every-
thing from the Departmentcof History to an astronom-
ical observatory. Angell Hall makes up the complete
western face of the building, while Mason Hall sits
at the northeast corner and Haven Hall makes up the
southeast. Tisch Hall, the smallest of the four func-
tions asa connector between Haven and Angell at the
south end of the building.
"It works as a complex - each building provides its
own individual functions, but as with any complex,
it ultimately works as a whole system," University
Planner Sue Gott said. "The different halls provide
See ANGELL, Page 4B

In the final segment of a two-part series on the University's architecture, The B-Side
answers a few questions: Why is Dennison unappealing to so much of the student body?
How did the Angell Hall complex get to be the four-building labyrinth it is? Why does the
Duderstadt Center have two "up" escalators? This issue looks behind the facade of campus.
f

DESIGN BY CORINN LEwlS
PHOTOS BY SALAM RIDA & JAKE FROMM