Thomasson at the Kennedy Center

A "Useless Doorway" Thomasson

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

A colleague recently introduced me to the concept of Thomasson, and I realized I've enjoyed seeking them out for much of my life! What is a Thomasson, you may ask? From the Super Ordinary Life blog: "Thomasson are essentially useless architectural remnants left behind as our cities evolve and expand. At times these Thomasson are oddly well maintained and other times, they are left to deteriorate."

Former water fountain, previously featured in
Architectural Archaeology: Kennedy Center II

Thomasson fits into what I've been calling Architectural Archaeology. They both give a look into how things were before the present. The focus with Thomasson is on visually apparent remnants. With Architectural Archaeology, I've used it more broadly, so some of my remnants only are apparent as remnants when you consider the Center overall, old photos, and/or blueprints. Some of the things I have featured are still functioning, and aren't useless at all! Today, however, I want to focus my attention solely on Thomasson. So here are some I've found at the Center:

Useless Door

A "Useless Doorway" Thomasson

At the top of this post, I featured this picture of a doorway walled off. This used to be one of many doors into the Theater Lab from the Atrium. When the Theater Lab was reconfigured in 2012, it moved its entrance and, no longer needing the doors, built walls behind them. While they are locked most of the time, occasionally you can find them unlocked, and can pretend to make your grand entrance through these large slabs of wood. Just watch out for the wall on the other side. 

"There were bells on a hill, but I never heard them ringing"

Alarm Bell

During the winter months of the Kennedy Center closure due to COVID, I sometimes meandered around the empty parking garage via scooter. On one of my excursions, I noticed there was an alarm bell that was clearly inoperable. Its power cord cut, it hangs as a reminder to fire safety days gone by.

Close-up on the bell

Missing Sanitary System

In one men's staff bathroom I frequent, there is a little sign explaining how to operate the fancy technology the toilet seat has. Or had. The sign's still up, but the toilet seat is normal. The juxtaposition of this situation is heightened by the fact that you have to stare right at the sign for a (sometimes lengthy) time on the very toilet the sign is supposed to be describing. 

Close-up on the sign

 

"For your convenience and Protection

SANITARY TOILET SEAT

After use, the plastic cover is destroyed and can never be reused. 

Please notify Management if seat is out of plastic or malfunctioning.

PUSH RED BUTTON ONCE BEFORE USE

For a new sleeve of sanitary plastic

Bella Bagno Inc."

Bella Bagno Inc is still around, offering their Sanitary Toilet Seat System.

Here is also a 19-20 second video showcasing another brand's similar sanitary system:

Bonus: No Smoking?

So this is what I'm going to call a gray area. Is it useless? Not sure. It might still be in use! This is an ashtray in a mechanical room. More specifically, it's one of (if not THE) last ash tray in a mechanical room. 

Smoking in the United States was a lot more commonplace in the Kennedy Center's early decades. The Kennedy Center used to sell KC-branded matchboxes, ashtrays, and lighters. The opening performance program even featured a full page Marlboro ad on the back cover! It wasn't until the 1990's and 2000's that smoking became prominently stigmatized and legislated against. Smoking at the Center became permissible in only certain locations, and definitely not inside the building. Ash trays like this one were removed. But this one was not.

Ash tray with cigarettes

With cigarettes still present in the tray, it's unclear to know if it is truly out-of-use. You would have to figure out how old the cigarettes are. Not a skill I know how to do. Or want to do.

What Thomasson can you find in the built world around you? Keep your eyes peeled!

Thank you to Scott Bushnell for sending me the Thomasson article! Thank you also to Kate Roberts for showing me the old ash tray!

Architectural Archaeology: Kennedy Center II

Kennedy Center in snow, January 2019

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

As usual, I'm procrastinating other personal writing projects. So we're at this again with entirely new spots around the Kennedy Center! For some reason, they're all about wall features. Didn't plan it, that's just what it ended up being. Enjoy...

PAYPHONES

I alluded to this last time: Where are the payphones? They used to be everywhere. When cell phones became common in everyone's pockets, payphones were deemed superfluous. Most were either taken down or abandoned.

As a building from the 1970's, the Kennedy Center most certainly had payphones. Today, there none still on the walls.* As someone who arrived at the Center post-payphones, I have absolutely no idea where they were located. Except...

While perusing eBay, I found one unusual clue: a September 2000 Program.

September 2000 Kennedy Center Stagebill program for the Balanchine Celebration.
Caption inside: A member of the Bolshoi Ballet takes time for a phone call before a
performance of Don Quixote. Photo by Carol Pratt.

I love old Kennedy Center programs. Their cover photos range from architectural beauty shots to quirky ideas like this. This sort of situation could only happen to you at the Kennedy Center!

So where is this photo taken? There are a couple clues. The marble floor, the "Teatro Scala" poster, the Bolshoi Ballet dancer. Bolshoi Ballet usually performs in the Opera House. Most previous show posters at the KC are only displayed in backstage areas. Marble floors are usually only in public areas. 

The answer is the Opera House Stage Door Lobby. It's a liminal space, the gateway from the public Hall of Nations to the private backstage. Somehow, the Teatro Scala still seems to be in the same spot that it was in 2000!

Corner of the Opera House Stage Door lobby

Under the poster is even two covered outlet covers, exactly where payphones were located in the 2000 program cover.

The former payphone location.
Note the two outlet covers.

It's also interesting to note the lighting reflection on the Teatro Scala poster in 2000. It's circular, like the lights that still hang in the Opera House Stage Door's Inner Antechamber. Now in 2021, the lights are modern fluorescents. 

* There is one staff member who has a Kennedy Center payphone at their desk, but I don't believe it is plugged in/operating.


WATER FOUNTAIN

In a storage room by the Atrium is this odd, boxy protrusion sticking out from the wall. It is sometimes used as a shelf.

It appears to be an old water fountain, just covered up! This area used to be part of a large bathroom complex next to the Atrium. For some reason, this fountain was never removed from the wall.

Taped-over water fountain spigot

The black and gold polished rock is gorgeous. It's interesting to see how features, like water fountains, have changed over the decades, and thus change the feel of the built environment. 

GOLDEN FIRE ALARM

For some reason, the Kennedy Center has different colored fire alarms throughout the building. You have your standard red fire alarms in the Grand Foyer:

Red Fire Alarm in the Grand Foyer

When you go upstairs, the Nations and States Galleries' fire alarms are white.

White Fire Alarm in the Nations Gallery

And then in the Atrium and Atrium Foyers are fire alarms that are gold colored.

Gold Fire Alarm in an Atrium Foyer

Gold fire alarm in the Atrium

The different colors are most likely due to renovations that happened at different times. Out of the three colors, I'm really digging the gold ones. Red is standard, everyone understands they have to be there so it's permissible. But now with other colors available... my response to red fire alarms is Ryan Gosling saying "Be better than the Gap" from Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011). Let's bring our fire alarm game up a notch! White is nicely camouflaged on top of the marble, but won't work as well with wood paneling or beige walls. Gold, though, is part of the color scheme throughout the building. They blend in very nicely. Just the right detail. Still stands out, but fits in to the surroundings.

WALL CARPET NO MORE

I regret to announce my favorite administrative hallway stretch will no longer feature wall carpet. After decades of service (I'm willing to bet almost 50 years), they pulled the carpet down last week. It wasn't anything special, just a thick beige wall carpet, but its anachronistic dated style made me happy.

Some before pictures from a month or so ago:

(It was hard for me to photograph)

Wall Carpet detail on right. 

And then here is the hallway right after they tore it down:

Wall detail, interesting pattern created
from ripping carpet off the wall

Wall carpet rolled up, waiting to head for the dumpster
The edge had a metal frame around it

They've done more work on the hallway since these pictures, it won't be left in that state. It'll just be a normal stretch of hallway, just like all the rest. RIP Wall Carpet. (It's gonna be really funny if wall carpets become a popular interior design trend soon) (Probably not, both to wall carpets becoming popular again real soon, or it being really funny)

PRODUCTION AUTOGRAPH

Ending this on a high note. Many of the touring shows that come through tag somewhere in the backstage. Some are on the ground, some are in tech booths. They can just be their logo, or they can get elaborate, adding dates, a list of stagehands who were on those tours, etc.

This tagged alcove is one of my favorites, just a fun mix of shows. And looks like there's already a new black wall available for when they fill up every inch of the current section!

The LEGO Millennium Stage

Millennium Stage & the LEGO Millennium Stage!

[Full Disclosure: I am a current employee of the Kennedy Center. Any opinions expressed in this piece are my own personal views and do not represent that of the Center, its management, or its staff.]

Good evening, and welcome to Millennium Stage! Every day, the Millennium Stage celebrates the human spirit by presenting a free performance at 6pm. And now, please give a warm welcome to... the LEGO Millennium Stage!!

Millennium Stage has been my work-home longer than any other job I've had at this point. This year, I have missed playing my part in bringing excitement and life to the Grand Foyer. With all the recent stress, grief, and uncertainty, I wanted to create something of familiarity and comfort for myself. This manifested in designing and building a minifigure-sized LEGO Millennium Stage.

The stage I built is modeled off of the third and current iteration of the Millennium Stage proscenium, designed by Grimm + Parker in 2012. Specifically, the LEGO stage's setup is based off the South Millennium Stage by the Concert Hall, as that stage was the first of the two originally built back in 1997.

Because I wanted to recreate the proscenium arch's signature lean, I built a test model to figure it out.

Proscenium test #1

Another proscenium test

Test performance at the test stage.

The lean was achieved by placing an elevated 2x4 brick with pins underneath one end of the towers, then letting the other end rest on the ground.

Once the test model worked to my liking, it was off to build the real deal!

In progress: Stage level of Millennium Stage built

In progress: curtains hung, work starting on the grid

Banana Guy & BB-8 on the completed stage!

Overhead shot of the stage

Completed Millennium Stage next to the Test Model

And so the stage was complete! I had achieved my goal. But was that the end? My mind kept turning, kept asking additional "What If" questions to further expand the stage:

What if... there was a whole LEGO band performing with LEGO instruments?

What if... my stage reflected the diversity that the human-sized Millennium Stage regularly presented?

What if... I also built the tech booth?

What if... the video screen could actually work?

What if... the towers could light up?

So I did what any curious person who likes figuring things out would do -- I answered the questions. 

Let me reintroduce you to the LEGO Millennium Stage:

LEGO Millennium Stage Version 6.0

Millennium Stage Booth

LEGO Band: I bought the Banana Guy Suit from the Series 16 Collectible Minifigures and fell in love with him. I found out there were more food suits, so I started to collect them. I've named this band "Unbalanced Breakfast." 

Now presenting on the LEGO Millennium Stage: Unbalanced Breakfast!
They will be performing songs from their sophomore album The Second Course.

LEGO Instruments: LEGO has trumpets, saxophones, maracas, guitars, and more already made in premade pieces. I needed a grand piano and a drumkit. The piano design came from Masao Hidaka on YouTube. For the drumkit, the bass drum & toms specifically came from Bricks4All on YouTube. For the other hardware, I took inspiration from other kits I saw and made my own.

LEGO Diversity: Millennium Stage has done a great job at presenting artists of different races, ethnicities, identities, and backgrounds. I thought it would be a disservice for my stage not to reflect that as well. 

I didn't own any Black minifigures before building Millennium Stage. Almost all of my sets from childhood included yellow minifigures. Black and tan/white minifigures were only reserved for sets based on licensed properties or real life individuals. Of the licensed property sets, a majority of the minifigures they have created are based off white people. There is a great disparity in the levels of abundance for Black minifigures compared to the other colors.

LEGO has kept yellow as the default minifigure color. From a Gizmodo article, a LEGO representative stated "the yellow-headed minifigure was a conscious choice. Because of their ethnically neutral skin color, Lego [sic] people can be any people-- in any story, at any time." 

1. I think this is a naïve way of looking at race. The world is full of diversity, and that should be celebrated. Our toys should reflect that for our children. 

2. With LEGO adding diversity to licensed sets, it muddies their original message. They've already partially opened the door, you can't shut it back now. It may be time for a new message.

What bothered me the most when I was searching for Black minifigures was most of the ones I found were frowning or looked stern. Most of the yellow minifigures are smiling. This doesn't feel right.

LEGO Millennium Stage audience!

Changing subjects to talk about different kind of representation: LEGO introduced its first wheelchair for minifigures in 2016. As the Millennium Stage is accessible to all, so is my stage. The wheelchair is here too.

Extra readings on LEGO & Diversity:

LEGO: Why some minifigures are different colours

Petition to Make Lego Minifigures More Diverse

Hollywood's Racism Exposed ... By Lego

Able-ism and Diversity in LEGO

Black-Owned Custom LEGO® Subscription Box Aims to Create Global Citizens and Develop Engineering Skills

Tech Booth: This was fun to create, because of all the little details and props I could add. The booth door can swing open and closed. The drawer under the camera platform is also functional!

 

The Multimedia crew has given some of their gear and carts punny names. In keeping with the tradition, the LEGO Multimedia Rack is named "Shrak." Long live Shrak!

The LEGO booth resting on top of the
human-sized booth, both facing the same orientation.

Drawer opens to reveal camera equipment and more!
(They don't actually keep food or gold in the human-sized one)

Video Screen: Originally, the LEGO video screen was a stationary set decoration. Once I built the stage, it occurred to me I would like to watch actual Millennium Stage performances at my Millennium Stage. So I redesigned the video screen to be removable. In its place, I could set my phone down and play past broadcasts of Millennium Stage off of YouTube.

Taking the screen off of the proscenium

Watching Millennium Stage at Millennium Stage,
on the ground in front of Millennium Stage.
Still is from the March 12, 2020 "National Sawdust:
Sonic and Womxyn Amplify" performance (Link).

Lights: This was one of my earliest What If's and the last one to come together. I used Light My Bricks, an Australian company that makes lighting specifically for LEGOs. They provide supplemental kits for official LEGO models, as well as DIY options.

The stage lights are string LED lights that cast a warm white glow. The towers use multicolor strip lights, which slowly cycle through the rainbow. There are also lights made out of LEGOS, but they are only there to add extra detail to the stage.

Adding the strip lighting to the towers

The lights are powered by two battery packs. These are housed backstage, where I have built a platform to hold them in place. This platform does not exist on the human-sized stage, but creative options for vertical storage like this would be beneficial there.

Picture of the backstage

Special thanks to Millennium Stage electricians Chandler Bryant & Josh Ingle for consultation on this aspect! I miss you guys. I miss the whole crew. We'll be together again one day.

A few more pictures of note before I wrap up:

Rare shot of the stage without the stage or proscenium
during the lighting installation.

The Stage Left wing

View from the Stage Right wing.

The Stage Right wing and upstage crossover

Size comparison of the Millennium Stages

The LEGO booth and the human Millennium Stage

Comparing the proscenium tilts. 
I did passable work for remotely eyeballing the lean's angle.

FAQ:

The computer design of the stage used 867 bricks. The computer design of the booth used 404 bricks. I have added more detail since then to each, so I have absolutely no idea what the current totals are. I'd guess I've added over 200 bricks, perhaps even 300.

The stage was designed over one day in Late May. Pieces were ordered shortly thereafter. The LEGO Group can be slow to order custom brick orders from. The wait was agonizing. I received the LEGOs in early July, and built the stage in a couple hours. I then worked on and off on the What If's until Late November. All together, it took six months.

The audience features Mae Jemison, Mary Jane Watson, a blonde Peter Parker, Qui-Gon Jinn, Birthday Cake Guy from the Minifigure Collectibles Series 18, a skeleton (why not), and Nick Fury accompanied by a lady also sporting an eyepatch. A minifigure of me is hiding in the booth watching the show.

So, that's the stage! This will probably be my latest LEGO project for a while. I have two other projects on my plate, both I have put off for too long...

LEGO Millennium Stage and Me!

Thank you for joining us at the LEGO Millennium Stage on the Millennium Stage! For more information on upcoming Millennium Stage performances, please visit Kennedy-Center.org or on Facebook. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your evening at... the Kennedy Center.