Orange Coast College, Football Stadium addition

Orange Coast College, Football Stadium addition

Richard Neutra was surprised to discover degree to which the board members of Orange Coast College were invested in his designs for an addition to the college’s football stadium, not fully realizing the important role football played in American culture. He reminisced about a board meeting in which members made requests related to a discrete space for cheerleaders and an easily accessible space for a waiting ambulance. Having never watched a football game, Neutra envisioned it as a “pagan ceremony full of . . . rites and rituals.” Neutra’s distinctive mark is evident in the design though, particularly in a press box which he set high above the home stand on the east side of the stadium. Here, a shed roof hangs over the glass walls while an outdoor viewing area is enclosed by tubular steel railings.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 254.