Today, June 25, is the fifth anniversary of the public opening of the (relatively) new Guthrie Theater, a building on the downtown Minneapolis riverfront that was designed by Jean Nouvel.

It’s really big and it’s really blue and it’s not beautiful—that’s not what this is about. Really transcendent buildings, like the Chrysler Building or the Sydney Opera House, are beautiful from every angle; the Guthrie is chunky and awkward from every angle, except maybe that one they take the postcard photos from. But even then. What shape is it? I don’t even know.

It’s also confusing to navigate, even for someone who’s been there as many times as I have. When multiple productions are taking place simultaneously, the Guthrie makes big signs and then enlists staff members to stand at the top of the escalators and tell you the same thing the signs are telling you: this way for H.M.S. Pinafore, that way for God of Carnage. Minneapolis drag performer Mrs. Smith calls the Guthrie “architectural Alzheimer’s,” because you know what you’re looking for but you don’t know where it is, and you keep getting distracted by other things like that restaurant and those wall projections.

None of this is ideal for a theater, but I’ve learned to love the Guthrie anyway. Here are ten reasons why:

1. It’s big and it’s blue. You don’t miss it, and I take that as a virtue. I know buildings are supposed to be sensitive to their surroundings, but next to the big chunky condos, the Mill City Museum, and that huge power-pole, the big fat Guthrie fits right in—and you know it’s the Guthrie, because it’s SO DAMN BLUE.

2. Vertical marquees. These are brilliant. They’re visible from a mile away in any direction, and they provide a splash of color and movement without seeming cheap. They also look great from the Guthrie’s interior windows. It’s the perfect way to take a traditional theatrical marquee and update it for the high-flown context. Also, when Tony Kushner’s Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide was playing a couple of years ago, the big bright HOMOSEXUAL marquee unsettled some neighbors, who called the Guthrie to complain. The Guthrie didn’t change a thing.

3. Three-story escalators. Given the need to move people from the ground level to the seating entrances on the fourth floor, superlong escalators are a fun way to do it. Mirrored panels facing the escalators turn them into the arthounds’ equivalent of the “kiss cam” at Twins games. It’s cute.

4. The Endless Bridge. This is a misnomer—the fact that it ends is precisely the point. I like it because it gives people a strong nudge to enjoy the remarkable view, and it deposits them out-of-doors on a cantilevered platform to do so. It also gives the people below something to gawk at.

5. The little bar under the cantilevered bridge. Still the Guthrie’s best-kept secret, this cozy low-ceilinged nook provides faster service and more intimate seating options than the other lobby bars do. Check it out.

6. The Wurtele Thurst Stage (above). That’s a whopper of an awkward name, but the Wurteles paid a lot more money for it than I did, so I should just keep my lip zipped. The Dowling Studio is a standard black-box and the McGuire Proscenium Stage is a frustratingly wide, distancing space to see a show—but the Wurtele Thrust is a precise recreation of the original Guthrie Theater stage, with all its famously asymmetrical virtues. It’s a wonderful space simply to walk in to, and it gets even better when the show starts.

7. The Dowling Studio lobby (above). There are logistical issues here—just try to find the bathroom—but visually, the lobby is a marvel, washed in yellow from the tinted windows. The window in the floor is exactly the kind of fun more buildings should be willing to have. Everyone who sets foot in this lobby wants to pull out a camera and take a picture, and for good reason: it’s one of the most distinctive interior spaces in the Twin Cities.

8. The angled windows. Along the concourse leading to the end of the Endless Bridge (see the problem with that name?), the silver-mirred angled windows serve to focus attention on nearby landmarks—the Gold Medal Flour sign, the urban park to the east—and to magnify the views via four-way reflections. People can’t resist sticking their heads in.

9. The way the building is open to the street on both sides. For all the legacies of Frank Lloyd Wright that continue to serve architecture well, the idea that doors should be hidden is one that’s happily gone by the wayside. From both the 2nd Street side and the river side, wide plazas invite visitors to enter the Guthrie. Happily, the building is open to the public even when shows aren’t playing.

10. Just the fact that it’s there. Say what you will about the Guthrie’s building and programming, for nearly five decades now, the company has been a beacon of the Twin Cities’ cultural life, and while some continue to mourn the Guthrie’s beloved original facility next to the Walker Art Center, this new building has given the company a newfound flexibility, reach, and physical presence in the heart of Minneapolis. High five for that.

– Jay Gabler

Photo credits, top to bottom: Mark Vancleave, Gallop Studios, Gallop Studios. All courtesy Guthrie Theater.