beeby's addition/renovation at miami of ohio (oh)
roto's new building at prairie view a&m (tx)
holl's addition to univ minnesota (mn)
tschumi's florida int'l university (fl), with qualifiers: even though it's really just a built diagram, the outdoor spaces seem to work well, it has a nice interior gallery space, and the studios are appropriately rough/tough with lots of natural light. maybe too much natural light in south florida?
though it wasn't purpose-designed as an architecture school, i'll always have a love for richardson memorial at tulane. it's situation on the campus and the way the old building truly works for the dynamics of an architecture school is incredible. the building is simple, tough, malleable, and provides ample well-used social space.
can't wait for jeanne gang's proposal for university of kentucky's pence hall to be revealed!
I start the dialogue on Eisenman's Aronoff center for DAAP at the University of Cincinnati.
The original plans held a lot of promise and architects and critics were immensely excited once approved and once opened. While the grand staircase is rather successful as a "public" crit space and the grouping under one roof of all design disciplines was a lovely move on the universities part, the building isn't holding up well. At all.
Also, unfortunately, the budget mostly went towards GPS positioning of all the building's facets and finishes were sacrificed as a result. Lot's of linoleum and EIFS. It's a sad consequence in my opinion.
Some how from your link WonderK I got to a post by le bossman in which he called Phoenix "city of tools". He doesn't mean hammers!
So what do you Phoenicians (actually Tempe-ians) think of the ASU school of architecture building? I remember being jealous of it when i graduated from UA around the same time it was built. Has it held up?
hmm that list above seems to only capture "top tier" architecture schools...
I thought Princeton's building was pretty horrible, IMO
I spent 3 years in OSU's Knowlton hall...the building was a shock at first, hard to understand...but after awhile it's complexities/surprises grew on me...it was a building that took you out of your comfort level...then reconfigured it...in terms of working/living in it. It was also a good building to learn off of... it was an architecture book in building form.
plus it pissed off the business students next door in their all brick, post-modern, cupcake.
and...shingled marble....if you can get away with using that material (which Scogin + elam did), you're pretty much the man/woman
i've only been to visit knowlton hall, but i thought it was very impressive. my understanding is that mack and merrill had a different preference for the exterior cladding and the clients really pushed for the marble shingles, causing the building cost to skyrocket, which was the main criticism of the business students.
i've also attended georgia tech which was modeled after the bauhaus. the experience was totally drab. i've visited UW and Berkeley and found that these schools had a very similar vibe.
although it's not exactly easy on the eyes, i really like the way sci-arc is organized...one really long conitnuous 'street' that really becomes a social activator and allows you to walk around and wave at your neighbors...plus you can skateboard.
dear asbuckeye,
my list only includes "top-tier" schools because those are the only ones i've personally visited. i would of course include other schools if i had ever visited their buildings. btw, osu is pretty darn close to top-tier.
i spent a couple of evenings in the princeton soa building when i was visiting some friends there. it's not the prettiest thing from the outside, but the studio spaces are very, very nice. More desk space than I've seen at any other school, and immaculately laid out in the space. I also really like how the 3rd floor studio floats above the 2nd, and how the ground floor lobby is where all the pin-ups occur so that they really turn into a public spectacle. i haven't seen any school of architecture building anywhere else that works so well.
University of Tennessee has an amazing building. It was designed by a local firm, built in '81, and won several national design awards. Not many people even know about it, considering the relative lack of architectural significance on the rest of the campus.
yes the marble cladding was the decision of mr. knowlton himself...had a bit of a marble fetish...which makes their ability to pull it off that much more impressive. Forget the fact that the shingles might end up popping off and killing people.
NB,
I guess you must have a different perspective, actually spending substantial time inside. My issues are with it as a building in site. Walking around the princeton campus (which I must say is one of the most beautiful campuses i've ever been on), SOA was just such a disappointment. I didnt spend enough time inside to garner a better opinion of it. I must say though, the interior was a HUGE step up from the exterior's relationship to the campus. So, i'll take your word for it that it "works"
I agree about Princeton's building... I took a look around there a month or two ago, and was pleasantly surprised by the space. There's nothing particularly flashy or showy about it, but it's more of an elegant, restrained modernism that still looks good and functions well after a long time. The studio spaces were pretty much vacant when I was there, but I was impressed by their spaciousness. Bonus points for occupying a nice spot near the center of a beautiful campus.
I actually like Gund Hall a lot... The whole setup with the trays seems like a pretty cool space to live and breathe architecture for 3+ years. I think the building could have done a better job meeting the street, though, as it's not a very friendly neighbor in terms of urban design. I guess there's a reason it's called brutalism.
Crown Hall at IIT - Always a classic. IMO, probably the best building Mies ever did.
Best architecture buildings I've never visited:
University of Michigan - Based on photos, their architecture building looks pretty interesting. Sort of like Crown Hall on steroids, or an aircraft hangar.
City College of New York - There's some plans and renderings of their new architecture building on Vinoly's website, and it looks promising.
Worst architecture buildings, IMO:
DAAP @ Cincinnati - Interesting idea, horrible execution. The building appears to have aged about 40 years in less than a decade, and not in a good way. I'd consider this building the anti-Princeton.
UIC - Maybe I'd have a different opinion if it had been finished (the exterior of the unfinished portion always reminded me of the blown-up portion of the Oklahoma City Federal Building before it was demolished), but despite some attempts to add some windows and improve the space, it's still nothing more than a dismal 5-story bunker.
Avery Hall @ Columbia - There's a fine line between having historical charm, and being an outdated fossil. I think Avery crossed that line many moons ago, and City College up the street is about to show them up in a very big way.
let us not forget the mothership ...Bauhaus Dessau.
I also like Tschumi's Marne School of Arch in France. While quite traditional, yet refreshingly authentic, UT-Austin's School of Arch is fantastic with a wonderful inner court.
holl at univ of minnesota = poor acoustics, poor environmental controls, not enough square footage. the library is nice, but the mali lecture hall seats could have come from medieval torture chambers.
Last I checked, it was a $20-25 mil. project that simply adds onto our existing building's roof and de-facto south side enterance. Larger offices, a reading space and a roof-top patio will be apart of the program; as well as 'green features' (to be determined by profits from fundraising).
Our former, Dean, an urban planner, strongly backed this pragmatic proposal by Miller Hull.
Looks/sounds playful enough. From a quick google search of your current building, it might not be a bad idea...the current studios appear darthvader-ish (word?)
At an acre+, I think Michigan has the largest open studio space in the country. Tall ceilings and complete north-side glazing. Super public and versatile, but not intimate and many times distracting.
Knowlton hall had huge 2-2.5 height studio spaces as well. At first it was very distracting, but, over time, it lead to a much different approach/experience with studio culture. It bred much more communal and collaborative behavior than your typical closed in studio space. Sure, at times it was annoying to know that at any moment someone could be peering over your shoulder...but, being in studio till 3am sucked regardless of the openness or closeness of the space...so, i must say the "airport hanger with massive curtain walls" model for studio spaces grew on me.
Is it me or do lots of these buildings have accessibility issues? Especially the gallery space -- I was thinking that if I were in a wheelchair it would be really hard to access the galleries.
I was really disappointed with Knowlton School of Architecture. While it looked good from a distance, once I got up next to it I saw all of the flaws, and there were plenty. It seem that Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects had no follow through with the project. An old classmate and I spent 3 hours walking through the building noticing details and finishes that were not thought through and poorly executed. You can have the greatest concept in the world but if you dont know how to execute it, it is useless.(i.e. DAAP)
The Sam Fox School of Design at Washington University in St Louis has a very nice little cluster of of 5 buildings. The two original historical buildings have an austere classicism. They are sewn together by three buildings designed by Fumihiko Maki in various points of his career. Steinberg Hall is the first building he ever erected. It creates a nice little community with a central plaza that exhibits student design/build work and furniture. The desks aren't enormous like I've seen elsewhere, but each student does have a generous L-Shaped space.
well only two architects in the history of the usa, did the master building for a college campus, Thomas Jefferson, and Mies van der Rohe.
All of Mies's buildings on the IIT campus are great examples of good architecture, i dont even think you can compare it to the comtemporary efforts, I mean just think about all the cheap construction materials used today, issues with mold, etc..
sorry DonQuixote, but both Cass Gilbert and Yamasaki did master buildings on the Oberlin College campus, and I believe Cass also did most of Stanford. I'm sure folks around here can come up with a whole shit-storm of others.
I liked the addition of Sullivan's Carson Pierie Scott building to the SAIC campus -- the clerk who actually subdivided the space was, at best, uninspired (beige?), but the building is beautiful, funky, and quite surprising.
Sarinen the elder deserves an honorable mention for his role at Cranbrook.
Oh, and having never studied there, I like Walter Netch's UIC campus designs. I have studied and worked in his modest addition to the art institute campus, and I think it has some decent parts. I particularly liked the way in which the board room has only one window, which looks directly at his office.
While I'm at it, on the sly another deserves a mention -- Venturi's addition to Gilbert's Art building at Oberlin is the most functional and peasant building I have ever studied or worked in.
you have the germ of an interesting hypothesis for why architecture employment in Illinois is so high -- apparently the ag and techs are the only programs "that count" where the history of american architecture can be reduced t two names.
Best Architecture School Designs (the buildings, not the programs)
Which architecture schools have the best facilities, and who designed them?
my personal faves include:
beeby's addition/renovation at miami of ohio (oh)
roto's new building at prairie view a&m (tx)
holl's addition to univ minnesota (mn)
tschumi's florida int'l university (fl), with qualifiers: even though it's really just a built diagram, the outdoor spaces seem to work well, it has a nice interior gallery space, and the studios are appropriately rough/tough with lots of natural light. maybe too much natural light in south florida?
though it wasn't purpose-designed as an architecture school, i'll always have a love for richardson memorial at tulane. it's situation on the campus and the way the old building truly works for the dynamics of an architecture school is incredible. the building is simple, tough, malleable, and provides ample well-used social space.
can't wait for jeanne gang's proposal for university of kentucky's pence hall to be revealed!
Predock's new UNM Arch bldg is pretty nice.
when its built, this will get a lot of attention
^^ cooper union by morphosis.
oh forgot to site it, thanks SW
I start the dialogue on Eisenman's Aronoff center for DAAP at the University of Cincinnati.
The original plans held a lot of promise and architects and critics were immensely excited once approved and once opened. While the grand staircase is rather successful as a "public" crit space and the grouping under one roof of all design disciplines was a lovely move on the universities part, the building isn't holding up well. At all.
Also, unfortunately, the budget mostly went towards GPS positioning of all the building's facets and finishes were sacrificed as a result. Lot's of linoleum and EIFS. It's a sad consequence in my opinion.
PSU's SALA Building is quite nice and the first LEED project for PSU.
it was done by overland partners
we should also probably mention scogin/elam's recent knowlton ctr at ohio state, but i haven't been there so i don't really know how it is. anyone?
I started a thread about this a long time ago. Feel free to extrapolate.
Sorry to be such a poser wonderK...
Some how from your link WonderK I got to a post by le bossman in which he called Phoenix "city of tools". He doesn't mean hammers!
So what do you Phoenicians (actually Tempe-ians) think of the ASU school of architecture building? I remember being jealous of it when i graduated from UA around the same time it was built. Has it held up?
well "best facilities" is a very different question from "coolest building" or "best design"
I will answer the coolest building and best design questions from the schools that I attend / have visited.
Best design (aestheitcally, critically, functionally):
Yale A&A by Rudolph
Runner-up:
Princeton SOA
2nd Runner-up:
Berkeley
Surprisingly mediocre buildings:
Harvard
Penn
Shouldn't be an architecture building:
UCLA
Columbia
um, didn't the architecture students try to set the Yale building on fire, or am I confusing it with another building?
hmm that list above seems to only capture "top tier" architecture schools...
I thought Princeton's building was pretty horrible, IMO
I spent 3 years in OSU's Knowlton hall...the building was a shock at first, hard to understand...but after awhile it's complexities/surprises grew on me...it was a building that took you out of your comfort level...then reconfigured it...in terms of working/living in it. It was also a good building to learn off of... it was an architecture book in building form.
plus it pissed off the business students next door in their all brick, post-modern, cupcake.
and...shingled marble....if you can get away with using that material (which Scogin + elam did), you're pretty much the man/woman
i've only been to visit knowlton hall, but i thought it was very impressive. my understanding is that mack and merrill had a different preference for the exterior cladding and the clients really pushed for the marble shingles, causing the building cost to skyrocket, which was the main criticism of the business students.
i've also attended georgia tech which was modeled after the bauhaus. the experience was totally drab. i've visited UW and Berkeley and found that these schools had a very similar vibe.
although it's not exactly easy on the eyes, i really like the way sci-arc is organized...one really long conitnuous 'street' that really becomes a social activator and allows you to walk around and wave at your neighbors...plus you can skateboard.
dear asbuckeye,
my list only includes "top-tier" schools because those are the only ones i've personally visited. i would of course include other schools if i had ever visited their buildings. btw, osu is pretty darn close to top-tier.
i spent a couple of evenings in the princeton soa building when i was visiting some friends there. it's not the prettiest thing from the outside, but the studio spaces are very, very nice. More desk space than I've seen at any other school, and immaculately laid out in the space. I also really like how the 3rd floor studio floats above the 2nd, and how the ground floor lobby is where all the pin-ups occur so that they really turn into a public spectacle. i haven't seen any school of architecture building anywhere else that works so well.
University of Tennessee has an amazing building. It was designed by a local firm, built in '81, and won several national design awards. Not many people even know about it, considering the relative lack of architectural significance on the rest of the campus.
http://www.arch.utk.edu/college/bldg_main.html
can we include pictures? I don't know how many schools y'all visited, but I've only personally experienced a couple of them.
dot,
yes the marble cladding was the decision of mr. knowlton himself...had a bit of a marble fetish...which makes their ability to pull it off that much more impressive. Forget the fact that the shingles might end up popping off and killing people.
NB,
I guess you must have a different perspective, actually spending substantial time inside. My issues are with it as a building in site. Walking around the princeton campus (which I must say is one of the most beautiful campuses i've ever been on), SOA was just such a disappointment. I didnt spend enough time inside to garner a better opinion of it. I must say though, the interior was a HUGE step up from the exterior's relationship to the campus. So, i'll take your word for it that it "works"
here are some pics of Knowlton Hall:
http://ksa.wmc.ohio-state.edu/public/index.cfm?operation=results_thumbnail&search=search_external&active.search_browse.GroupID=239
I agree about Princeton's building... I took a look around there a month or two ago, and was pleasantly surprised by the space. There's nothing particularly flashy or showy about it, but it's more of an elegant, restrained modernism that still looks good and functions well after a long time. The studio spaces were pretty much vacant when I was there, but I was impressed by their spaciousness. Bonus points for occupying a nice spot near the center of a beautiful campus.
I actually like Gund Hall a lot... The whole setup with the trays seems like a pretty cool space to live and breathe architecture for 3+ years. I think the building could have done a better job meeting the street, though, as it's not a very friendly neighbor in terms of urban design. I guess there's a reason it's called brutalism.
Crown Hall at IIT - Always a classic. IMO, probably the best building Mies ever did.
Best architecture buildings I've never visited:
University of Michigan - Based on photos, their architecture building looks pretty interesting. Sort of like Crown Hall on steroids, or an aircraft hangar.
City College of New York - There's some plans and renderings of their new architecture building on Vinoly's website, and it looks promising.
Worst architecture buildings, IMO:
DAAP @ Cincinnati - Interesting idea, horrible execution. The building appears to have aged about 40 years in less than a decade, and not in a good way. I'd consider this building the anti-Princeton.
UIC - Maybe I'd have a different opinion if it had been finished (the exterior of the unfinished portion always reminded me of the blown-up portion of the Oklahoma City Federal Building before it was demolished), but despite some attempts to add some windows and improve the space, it's still nothing more than a dismal 5-story bunker.
Avery Hall @ Columbia - There's a fine line between having historical charm, and being an outdated fossil. I think Avery crossed that line many moons ago, and City College up the street is about to show them up in a very big way.
(cross-posted with asbuckeye07)
Ah yes, Crown Hall is a great building. And I'm a sucker for rem's work...so I love the student center across from it.
And I must agree that DAAP's building is terrible. And avery hall.
let us not forget the mothership ...Bauhaus Dessau.
I also like Tschumi's Marne School of Arch in France. While quite traditional, yet refreshingly authentic, UT-Austin's School of Arch is fantastic with a wonderful inner court.
holl at univ of minnesota = poor acoustics, poor environmental controls, not enough square footage. the library is nice, but the mali lecture hall seats could have come from medieval torture chambers.
Controversial addition proposal to the University of Michigan Art+Architecture Building. Most within the Arch. Dept. seem to oppose it.
hm..i have very little idea how to approach that...any more info?
Last I checked, it was a $20-25 mil. project that simply adds onto our existing building's roof and de-facto south side enterance. Larger offices, a reading space and a roof-top patio will be apart of the program; as well as 'green features' (to be determined by profits from fundraising).
Our former, Dean, an urban planner, strongly backed this pragmatic proposal by Miller Hull.
I always liked pratt
idk
Looks/sounds playful enough. From a quick google search of your current building, it might not be a bad idea...the current studios appear darthvader-ish (word?)
At an acre+, I think Michigan has the largest open studio space in the country. Tall ceilings and complete north-side glazing. Super public and versatile, but not intimate and many times distracting.
Wurster Hall, at UC Berkeley
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Wurster_Hall_SW.jpg/800px-Wurster_Hall_SW.jpg">
Not a seismically safe building any longer, but had great studio layouts
PC,
Knowlton hall had huge 2-2.5 height studio spaces as well. At first it was very distracting, but, over time, it lead to a much different approach/experience with studio culture. It bred much more communal and collaborative behavior than your typical closed in studio space. Sure, at times it was annoying to know that at any moment someone could be peering over your shoulder...but, being in studio till 3am sucked regardless of the openness or closeness of the space...so, i must say the "airport hanger with massive curtain walls" model for studio spaces grew on me.
Is it me or do lots of these buildings have accessibility issues? Especially the gallery space -- I was thinking that if I were in a wheelchair it would be really hard to access the galleries.
ok i'll stop tooting Knowlton's horn after this...
accessibility is not an issue in a building that has .25 miles of ramps.
I was really disappointed with Knowlton School of Architecture. While it looked good from a distance, once I got up next to it I saw all of the flaws, and there were plenty. It seem that Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects had no follow through with the project. An old classmate and I spent 3 hours walking through the building noticing details and finishes that were not thought through and poorly executed. You can have the greatest concept in the world but if you dont know how to execute it, it is useless.(i.e. DAAP)
PENN STATE!!
Detroit, Michigan.
The Sam Fox School of Design at Washington University in St Louis has a very nice little cluster of of 5 buildings. The two original historical buildings have an austere classicism. They are sewn together by three buildings designed by Fumihiko Maki in various points of his career. Steinberg Hall is the first building he ever erected. It creates a nice little community with a central plaza that exhibits student design/build work and furniture. The desks aren't enormous like I've seen elsewhere, but each student does have a generous L-Shaped space.
Very nice facilities overall.
well only two architects in the history of the usa, did the master building for a college campus, Thomas Jefferson, and Mies van der Rohe.
All of Mies's buildings on the IIT campus are great examples of good architecture, i dont even think you can compare it to the comtemporary efforts, I mean just think about all the cheap construction materials used today, issues with mold, etc..
sorry DonQuixote, but both Cass Gilbert and Yamasaki did master buildings on the Oberlin College campus, and I believe Cass also did most of Stanford. I'm sure folks around here can come up with a whole shit-storm of others.
I liked the addition of Sullivan's Carson Pierie Scott building to the SAIC campus -- the clerk who actually subdivided the space was, at best, uninspired (beige?), but the building is beautiful, funky, and quite surprising.
Sarinen the elder deserves an honorable mention for his role at Cranbrook.
Oh, and having never studied there, I like Walter Netch's UIC campus designs. I have studied and worked in his modest addition to the art institute campus, and I think it has some decent parts. I particularly liked the way in which the board room has only one window, which looks directly at his office.
While I'm at it, on the sly another deserves a mention -- Venturi's addition to Gilbert's Art building at Oberlin is the most functional and peasant building I have ever studied or worked in.
thats nice mespellrong. but no one beats Thomas and Mies baby
SAIC has an architecture program? thats nice but in illinois only the big three that count are IIT, UUIC, UIC.
you have the germ of an interesting hypothesis for why architecture employment in Illinois is so high -- apparently the ag and techs are the only programs "that count" where the history of american architecture can be reduced t two names.
They really teach you guys at saic to talk that way? A germ of a hypothesis, lol
I don't know why it says I posted in this thread...
But POST.
I don't know why it says I posted in this thread...
But POST.
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