ORIENTAL THEATER

Built in 1927, Milwaukee’s Oriental Theater is an example of an exotic revival movement that relied on Arabian, Egyptian, and Far Eastern ornamentation to create a theatrical, fantasy-like cinema. The program required the insertion of two smaller theaters within the existing grand space. Inspired by the magical spirit of the movie palace, a gradually narrowing corridor between the two new theaters creates a false sense of perspective, fooling the theatergoer into thinking that the hall is much longer than it actually is. Ornamentation of the new construction is reflective of the original detailing but reinterpreted in consciously modern materials.