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RAMSA’s new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art opens at Notre Dame this December

2023-11-17T18:34:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame’s new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art from Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) has announced an opening date of December 1st, completing the first phase of a multi-year plan that will advance research and foundational arts education offerings for students in South Bend, Indiana.

The design consists of a 70,000-square-foot neoclassical style building to house the university’s 31,000 object collection. A rectangular layout of 23 separate gallery spaces centers around a circular multi-story atrium and sculpture court, with the exhibitions of different world cultures stitched together into one “dialogue” connecting to an art historical timeline that totals approximately 4,000 years.

Image rendering courtesy of RAMSA

Notre Dame is, similar to Brown University, pursuing the project in the interests of re-affirming the role of arts education in its undergraduate curricula. The school says the new museum brings it on par with Yale, Stanford, and other comparable ins...

Robert A.M. Stern Architects adds to Notre Dame's arts educational offerings with modernizing Raclin Murphy Museum of Art redesign

2023-07-31T08:00:00-04:00

Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) has shared design details of the new Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame ahead of the project’s first phase opening in South Bend later this fall.

The 70,000-square-foot facility is built to hold a growing collection of over 31,000 art objects, one of the largest for an American university or college, in addition to featuring a slate of exhibition strategies designed to “encourage ongoing dialogues with works of art” for Notre Dame’s student body. As the firm’s brief stated, 91% of the class of 2022 graduates reported having used the former Snite Museum for academic research at some point during their undergraduate careers.

Inside the museum’s neoclassical building, the new facility delivers a multi-level atrium space that welcomes visitors at the ground floor level and directs into the first series of thematic galleries, which house the university’s collection of American, European, and African art. A suite devoted to In...

Architect, educator, and leading proponent of classical architecture, Thomas Gordon Smith, dies at 73

2021-06-30T16:56:00-04:00

Architect and educator, Thomas Gordon Smith, known for his commitment to classical architecture and its contemporary applications, passed away on June 23 at the age of 73.

Smith was a professor emeritus and former chair at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. Born on April 23, 1948, in Oakland, California, he attended the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in painting in 1970 and a master’s in architecture in 1975. From 1979 to 1980, Smith worked as a Rome Prize Fellow in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome. It was here that he became fully committed to the study and practice of classical architecture. He concluded his fellowship with the participation of his design of a façade for “Strada Novissima,” an exhibition at the 1980 Venice Biennale.

Following his studies, Smith established his own architectural practice, Thomas Gordon Smith Architects, and taught at institutions including the College of Marin, UCLA, Yale Un...

Stefanos Polyzoides selected as the new dean of Notre Dame’s School of Architecture

2020-02-25T18:27:00-05:00

Architect, urbanist, and New Urbanism proponent Stefanos Polyzoides has been chosen to lead the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture.

According to an announcement from on the University of Notre Dame website, Polyzoides was selected as the new dean of the school due to his reputation as an “award-winning architect and urbanist whose approach to design emphasizes cultural continuity, urban regeneration, environmental responsibility and community engagement.”

Polyzoides will be taking over for Michael Lykoudis, who recently spoke out against the proposed “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” executive order.

Polyzoides is the cofounder of Moule & Polyzoides, a Pasadena, California-based architecture and urban planning firm known around the world for its contextually sensitive and pedestrian-oriented designs. Polyzoides co-founded the firm with partner and wife Elizabeth Moule in 1990. The pair has completed over 700 design projects around the world and are considere...

University of Notre Dame's architecture dean speaks out against classical executive order

2020-02-11T19:36:00-05:00

A proposal such as “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” potentially reduces an entire architectural philosophy to a caricature. Arbitrarily pasting columns and arches on a building so it looks like a Parthenon-Colosseum hybrid is pretentious — and doesn’t make the building classical. Designing classical buildings for the modern age is a complex process, requiring knowledge of construction, world architectural history and urbanism, as well as aesthetic judgment.

Writing in The Washington Post, Michael Lykoudis, Dean of the classical architecture-focused School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame, writes that the planned "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" executive order fills him with "great dismay."

Evoking the work of 15th century architect Leon Battista Alberti, Lykoudis explains that "as our students can attest, classical architecture is not a style; it is a dedication to principles of community, resilience and beauty."

"Buildings are not meant to be mere objects," Lykoudis adds, "but should contribute to the fabric of the city, promoting a healthy and nurturing community."

The measure has been opposed by a wide variety of advocacy groups, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

Robert Adam awarded 15th Richard H. Driehaus Prize

2017-01-19T15:20:00-05:00

Robert Adam, founder of ADAM Architecture, has been named the recipient of the 15th Richard H. Driehaus Prize, an award given each year to an architect "whose work has had positive cultural, environmental and artistic impact in keeping with the highest ideals of classical architecture in contemporary society." Alongside a bronze miniature of the Choregic Monument of Lysikrates, the award comes with a $200,000 prize.

“Robert Adam has made seminal and sustained contributions to his discipline by establishing a dialogue between the traditional and modern modes of architecture,” states Richard H. Driehaus, founder, chairman and chief investment officer of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management LLC. “He has had tremendous success by experimenting with contemporary materials and methods within the context of local and regional traditions.”

Adam was educated at Westminster University and was a Rome Scholar in the early '70s. In 1977, he founded ADAM Architecture. In addition to his design...

New Notre Dame School of Architecture building breaks ground

2016-11-16T18:48:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind., has broken ground on a new home for the university's architecture school. [...] The new building will enable the university’s School of Architecture to add two graduate programs: historic preservation and real estate development. Walsh Family Hall will be the second element of a planned arts quadrangle. [...] The hall is designed by John Simpson Architects of London; Stantec is the architect of record.

Learn more about the new building— a prime example of New Classicism— on the School of Architecture's website.

Scott Merrill wins the 2016 Driehaus Prize

2016-01-20T14:29:00-05:00

Scott Merrill, an architect known for his originality and creative application of architectural precedents, has been named the recipient of the 2016 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Merrill, the 14th Driehaus Prize laureate, will be awarded the $200,000 prize and a bronze miniature of the Choregic Monument of Lysikrates during a ceremony on March 19 (Saturday) in Chicago.

Scott Merril, the founder and principal designer of Merrill, Pastor & Colgan in Vero Beach Florida, has been awarded the 2016 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame.

Now in it's 14th year, the Driehaus Prize is something like an alternative Pritzker awarded to "a living architect whose work embodies the highest ideals of traditional and classical architecture in contemporary society, and creates a positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact."

Initiated by the fund manager and philanthropist Richard Driehaus, the Prize comes with a $200,000 check – about double the amount awarded with the Pritzker.

"The jury’s selection of Scott Merrill as the 2016 Driehaus Prize laureate brings into focus his remarkable ability to apply the principles of traditional architecture to a wide variety of building types while integrating unique regional identities,” Driehaus stated in the award announcement. “His work beautifully demonstrates the inherent versatility of tradition...

Get Lectured: University of Notre Dame, Spring '15

2015-01-22T13:30:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter-Spring 2015

Archinect's Get Lectured is back in session! Get Lectured is an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back frequently to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

The next featured poster comes from the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

Unless otherwise noted, lectures are held on Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. in 104 Bond Hall. Attendees are eligible to receive AIA/CE credits.

Jan 28
Michael Imber / Principal - Michael Imber Architects, San Antonio, TX
"Building with Landscape, Culture and Craft"

Feb 18
Maxim Atayants / Principal, Maxim Atayants Architects - St. Petersburg, Russia
"From Single Building to Urban Fabric: the Way to Build Classically in Russia"

March 4
Michael Lewis / Faison-Pierson-Stoddard...

David M. Schwarz named as 2015 Driehaus Prize recipient

2015-01-14T20:39:00-05:00

Architect David M. Schwarz, CEO and president of David M. Schwarz Architects, has won the 2015 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Established in 2003, the $200,000 prize honors a living architect's lifetime contributions considered to embody positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact, and also upholds high standards of classical architecture in contemporary society.

Upon Schwarz's selection, the jury highlighted the humanistic and community-driven focus of his designs that have remained since his firm was established in 1976:

"Schwarz approaches design with a belief in humanism that emphasizes pedestrian-friendly and socially active architecture with the goal of enabling civility and productivity in urban environments. He believes in building spaces for people, paying careful attention to issues of scale and material. His historically informed designs create lively public environments that meet the needs of diverse audiences.

Emphasizing that good des...

London Architect John Simpson to Design New Architecture Building at Notre Dame

2014-05-01T13:32:00-04:00

London architect John Simpson, one of the world’s leading practitioners of New Classicism and New Urbanism, has been selected to design the new School of Architecture building at the University of Notre Dame. [...] Notre Dame’s new building for the School of Architecture has been underwritten by a $27 million gift from Matthew Walsh and his wife Joyce. The 80,000 square-foot building will be located on the south end of the Notre Dame campus, east of the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center.

Thomas H. Beeby Named 2013 Driehaus Prize Laureate

2012-12-18T14:36:00-05:00

American architect Thomas H. Beeby has been named the recipient of the 2013 Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Beeby has designed an array of cultural, academic, religious, residential, and commercial buildings.