After two years of alterations, the Louis Kahn-designed Hewlett Building at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA has reopened. According to the college, the renovations were undertaken to “better serve the needs of students” while remaining loyal to Kahn’s original vision.
Kahn was selected to design the building in 1972 but passed away two years later while the scheme’s final drawings were being produced. Having subsequently been delivered by local firm Peters, Clayberg, and Caulfield in association with Esherick, Homsey, Dodge, and Davis, the Hewlett Building is one of few projects of Kahn’s completed after his death.
The latest alterations to the building began in 2022, led by local firm Russell Architects. Among the stated goals of the college for the renovations were to bring the institution’s community “under one roof and offer more collaborative spaces to gather in study, classroom settings, and other events.”
On the first floor, a new library has been positioned to reopen the building’s entrance on Scenic Avenue, while new gathering and study spaces have been added to the first and second floors. Additional classrooms, conference rooms, and multi-use spaces were added to the second and third floors, while a rare book and archival reading room has been installed to offer a “secure space for researchers who visit from all over the world to utilize the GTU’s unparalleled rare book and archival collections.”
“We are proud that the alterations remained true to Louis Kahn’s original vision, especially the role that natural light should play in illuminating a space and inspiring its occupants,” said the college’s president Uriah Kim about the scheme. “The completion of these alterations represents a key milestone in our five-year strategic plan, bringing the GTU community under one roof in reimagined spaces that will continue to foster the interreligious dialogue and brave conversations that are hallmarks of our GTU community.”
News of the building’s reopening comes one month after longtime Louis Kahn collaborator Harriet Pattison died at the age of 94. Last year, meanwhile, Kahn’s iconic Salk Institute was the host of a Louis Vuitton fashion show.
11 Comments
Here's what the inside looked like before "re-imagining" and "remaining loyal to Kahn's vision"
Good grief. I am speechless.
On second thought. Clueless.
If you’re going to strip out the classic Kahn built in mill work at least do something a bit better than a few cheap tables and chairs
Re-imagining is fun!
But be careful not to hit that original vision....
Then there's this:
From an article entitled "Mecanoo’s transformation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library respects the powerful simplicity of a Mies van der Rohe original"
https://archello.com/news/mecanoos-transformation-of-the-martin-luther-king-jr-library-respects-the-powerful-simplicity-of-a-mies-van-der-rohe-original
Looks like a carpet found in the old small town bowling alley. Crazy
"Yes, I feel that my powerful simplicity has been respected.
Oh, wait, are you talking about those purple curly cue things and that Van Gogh starry night ceiling sh!t? F*** no. Just no."
Wow. Thank you for posting that Gary but also NO THANK YOU because I have a migraine now.
Were these preliminary drawings as far as Kahn got with the library?
https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/image_gallery.cfm/4798
If so, not much to go on. There's no telling what changes he might have made had he taken it to completion. The architects must have made many decisions, including that open circular design in rnmn's comment.
“I see the library as a place where the librarian can layout the books, open especially to selected pages to seduce the reader,” Louis Kahn wrote before his death. “There should be a place with great tables on which the librarian can put the books, and the reader should be able to take the book and go to the light.”
https://www.gtu.edu/news/flora-lamson-hewlett-library-35-years-celebrating-remembering-and-preparing-future
. . . and the central room with the opening is pivotal to the whole design. Russell Archs dropped the ball.
I don't think Kahn made the model, rather it was done by Peters & co.
https://cdm15837.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15837coll6/id/36/rec/5
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.