City Theater
Wils, Jan
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Alternate file
Alternative Title
Pathé City
Date
1934-1935Description
Raking view of main entrance at street level; Wils early works espoused De Stijl. His later works of 1925-1935 showed the influence of Functionalism, for example, the Citroen building (1929) and the cinema City Theater (1935), both in Amsterdam; the latter used a steel frame and was hailed as a prime example of functionalist building. The City Theater opened on 29th October 1935 with the Austrian film “Episode” starring Paula Wessely. The original interior design (now lost, remodeled) was by German architect Oscar Rosendahl and had a seating capacity of 1,830. It had an automatic fire sprinkler system, unusual for the time. The City was equipped with a Strunk theatre organ, which still exists. It also originally included a cafe and ballroom. It is now owned by the Pathé chain; the exterior restored in 2010 (with some alterations), the interior has been competely altered and the large auditorium divided. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/ (accessed 6/2/2014)
Type of Work
motion picture theaterSubject
architecture, music, cinema, movies, film, Twentieth century, Functionalism (Architecture)
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only