Give the Gift of Brutalism!

Ever wonder what to give a fan of Paul Rudolph for the holidays? Especially after they have bought every book about his work from Amazon or Ebay? Well look no further.

Archinect, the website about architecture, has come to the rescue this season - Tshirts that that let you (or your friends) show that you love Brutalsim - and we know you do, or else you probably wouldn't be reading this blog post right now.
If your taste runs into other architectural styles - they also offer Tshirts that say I ♥ METABOLISM, I ♥ POMO, I ♥ MINIMALISM.

The shirts are $25 each and come in womens and mens sizes. To order one, you can go to the website here.

Trip to the Library of Congress Adds to Foundation's Collection

A court room interior - Orange County Government Center (circa 1971)
This past month Paul Rudolph Foundation Co-Director Kelvin Dickinson visited the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. to view the Paul Rudolph Archive.

When Rudolph passed away in 1997, he left the drawings, slides and models in his collection to the Library of Congress as a part of the Center for American Architecture, Design and Engineering - which was created from a bequest by Rudolph to the Library as a part of his will.

Construction Photo - Orange County Government Center (circa 1970)
The purpose of the trip was to photograph materials to add them to the Paul Rudolph Foundation's digital collections. In July, the Foundation hired a consultant to create an online archive of Paul Rudolph's work which is to be a significant segment of its existing website, www.paulrudolph.org. The archive's content management system (CMS) software has been completed, and graphic designers are now working on the site's visual design. The archives will be the subject of a more in-depth blog post at a later date.

Construction Photo - Orange County Government Center (circa 1970)
Mr. Dickinson was able to photograph the complete specifications and construction drawings for two projects that are currently threatened with demolition, to be used for the Foundation's preservation efforts. Kelvin worked for two and a half days with Greg Marcangelo, a cataloger for the Pictorial Collections and Ford Peatross, the Curator of Architecture, Design, and Engineering Collections, as well as two of their assistants.

Among other materials photographed were drawings of many little-known projects throughout Rudolph's career, such as the 1974 Jerusalem Hotel, and construction photos of various residences and the 1963-1971 Orange County Government Center. While there, Kelvin was able to collect information on two previously unknown projects which were not on the Foundation's list of Rudolph's work - which currently runs almost 300 individual works.

Main lobby interior - Orange County Government Center (circa 1971)
The Paul Rudolph Foundation is in the process of collecting images and drawings for each of Rudolph's projects, with the goal of making them available to scholars and students through an online portal.

Stay tuned for more information about the Foundation's digital archive which will be going live in the next couple of months.

Tracey Towers in 'Architecture of the Bronx'

Tracey Towers (photo: Kelvin Dickinson)
Artdaily.org writes on its website that:

"Bronx Architecture" is an online guide to the architecture of the borough developed by Lehman College Art Gallery/CUNY. Designed as a companion to "Public Art in the Bronx," the Web site features over 75 buildings, background on architects, neighborhood walking tours, maps, lesson-plans for high school teachers, neighborhood histories, a resource section, and glossary. Like the Web site devoted to public art, we hope that this guide will provide a useful resource for the general public as well as teachers and encourage exploration of the art and architecture of the Bronx.

included in the list of significant buildings are Paul Rudolph's Tracey Towers, "a visible landmark from northern Manhattan to Westchester County, incorporates organic curves that make its towers look like futuristic sandcastles."

The website includes a description of the buildings by David Bady:

The tallest buildings in the Bronx, one 38 and the other 41 storeys, the Tracey Towers dominate sight lines from as far away as Manhattan’s upper Broadway and the New York State Thruway in Yonkers. From the distance they are imperious: two isolated dark-gray cylinders rising straight up, without setbacks, from high ground. As they are approached, something more complicated and “futuristic” emerges. Each cylindrical building reveals itself to be a circle of nine narrower columns, windowless concrete rising to a spiral crown. In the core of the bundle, horizontally bridging the space between the columns, are the windows and balconies, which one would expect to find on the exterior of a conventional high-rise apartment house.

The Towers appear to be what was known in the ‘sixties as a mega-structure, a group of service cores forming the armature for an array of modular apartments and offices “plugged into” or suspended between them. This avant-garde engineering scheme fascinated architects as they followed the work of Japanese designers such as Kenzo Tange and Arata Isozaki. One of those most attracted to the “city within a city” was Paul Rudolph, an important American modernist who served as Chairman of Yale’s Department of Architecture from 1958 to 1965. In the mid-‘sixties, Rudolph’s proposal of a 280-million-dollar mega-structure, Graphic Arts Center, for Manhattan’s Hudson River front had been rejected by its union sponsor. (In truth, almost none of the original Japanese designs got beyond the drawing board, either.) A few years later, engaged by developer Frederick De Matteis to plan adventurous middle-class apartment houses for Kingsbridge, Rudolph seems to have returned to his thwarted plans.

Erecting an actual mega-structure on a Mitchell-Lama-subsidized, affordable-housing budget was out of the question. Rudolph settled for the sci-fi appearance. The difference between seeming and reality becomes finally clear when a visitor stands in front of one of the Towers. What appeared from a distance to be a ring of tall thin columns are in fact only segmented arcs of concrete wall, the rounded tips of vertical fins protruding at right angles from the faces of the central block of the building—whose plan is, surprisingly, a conventional square. (The projections contain a master bedroom ending in a windowless wall.) What appeared to be continuous concrete walls incised with deep grooves (a Rudolph trademark) are built of aligned pre-cast blocks. Although their views are reputedly spectacular, the balconies and windows crammed into the spaces between the blind “columns” can seem small and overshadowed.

Disappointments: but the visionary experience of the Towers is ineradicable.

the site also includes a biography of Rudolph.

Library at UMass Dartmouth Getting Renovated and an Addition

UMass Dartmouth library (photo: Kelvin Dickinson)
Paul Rudolph's library at UMass Dartmouth - renamed the Claire T. Carney Library in 2006 - is getting a $43 million renovation and expansion.

Rudolph's original rendering
Rudolph's original rendering
Ground breaking for the library - designed by Paul Rudolph and Desmond and Lord - occured on November 26, 1969 and the building was completed in 1972. On March 13, 1972 the building opened to students and the public. The adjacent ampitheater, known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Amphitheater, was dedicated on May 6, 1978 and is used for the university's graduation ceremonies.

rendering of proposed exterior
According to a September 18, 2009 article in the Herald News, a local newspaper:

...the expansion of the 37-year-old library has already begun. The space, now open on the first floor with two floors of lecture rooms above, will become an enclosed entrance to the library, with a new circulation desk, cafe, state-of-the-art presentation space and areas for group studying.

The second component of the project, which was paid through private fundraising and state bonds, will be the renovation of the existing space. The first floor, which has already added a new computer lab, will have “learning commons” and a “grand reading room,” said Catherine A. Fortier-Barnes, the assistant dean for library administrative services.

Architects have also made sure to keep with the Paul Rudolph-designed campus’s signature modernist look, Fortier-Barnes said.

No timeline has been set for completion, she said, but the renovation of the existing spaces will take place in phases so the library can remain open.

current conditions (photo: Kelvin Dickinson)
current conditions (photo: Kelvin Dickinson)
UMass Dartmouth, which was originally called Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute when Rudolph was hired to design the campus master plan in 1963, was known as "Smitty" in the office according to architect Der Scutt - who worked on the drawings in Rudolph's office at the time. A brief history of the project can be found on a website hosted by UMD's library:

In addition to the unique character of the buildings on the UMass Dartmouth campus, one of Rudolph’s major achievements was the master plan. On over 600 acres of undeveloped land, he had the opportunity to incorporate his longstanding theories and ideas about large scale construction and human habitation.

All of the elements of the campus design had a particular interest and meaning to him, whether it be the function of Ring Road to the relationship of classrooms and stairways. No detail escaped his consideration.

That much of his work at UMass Dartmouth and his other similar projects are enigmatic at best to those who encounter them is the great paradox of his legacy. Critics acknowledge him as a great designer whose buildings are often difficult to appreciate or understand but are permeated with an extraordinary creative skill.

SMTI / UMass Dartmouth, then known as Southeastern Massachusetts University, bestowed an honorary degree in Fine Arts to the architect in 1970.

rendering of proposed interior
rendering of proposed interior
rendering of proposed interior
On another page of the library's website, the university's introduction to the building's program includes a description of the existing building:

The University Library is at the center of campus discourse, learning, and scholarship. With the addition of the space that connects the Library to Group II its welcoming presence is more humansized, more open. Although the basic concrete structure is there as Paul Rudolph designed it, the library is a beguiling mixture of action, color, and real life captured in the moment all visible as you approach either from the inner or outer campuses.

On the Charlton side, the roof swings upward like an awning giving a panoramic view of the interior. On the inner campus side, the roof is lower creating a more intimate space. Inside the changes in ceiling heights help to define meeting spaces, social, reading, and functional library spaces.

As you enter the library from either side it is evident that this is the University Library. There are books, of course, and a solid, serious aura that is unmistakable. At the same time there is awelcoming air of informality that includes café service, gallery/display space, and areas for collegial discourse. Signage and design lead the visitor seamlessly to the services and resources they need.

Plan of proposed ground floor
Phase 1 of the Claire T. Carney Library Renovation Project began August 4, 2009 and consisted of "the removal of all concrete located beneath the bridge and lecture halls (campus gateway) connecting the Science and Engineering Building to the Claire T. Carney Library." Plans for the renovation include enclosing the area that is currently an open breezeway.

'Modernism at Risk' Coming to New York in 2010

Modernism at Risk: Modern Solutions for Saving Modern Landmarks, an exhibition organized by World Monuments Fund and sponsored by Knoll, Inc., will travel to design schools and other venues across the U.S. beginning in Gainesville, Florida, and traveling to New York City in 2010. The exhibit consists of large-scale photographs by noted photographer Andrew Moore and interpretative panels with five case studies exploring the role designers play in preserving Modern landmarks. In this brief gallery tour, Henry Ng (Executive VP of WMF) interviews Professor Marty Hylton of the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Models of Paul Rudolph's demolished Riverview High School and threatened John Chorley Elementary School are featured as part of the show and seen in the video.