Brutalists
rarely got as brutal as Paul Rudolph, a man who suffered the
singular misfortune of designing the Yale Art and Architecture
Building. Fickle, unappreciative architecture students hated
the building and it even found itself a victim of a suspicious
fire in 1969. The unmitigated hatred toward such a strong
design has forever tainted Rudolph's entire body of work,
an unforgiving cloud that still hangs over him well after
his death.
Yale
Art and Architecture Building
(1963) New Haven, Connecticut, United States
The misguided students who tried to
burn down the Art and Architecture Building were luckily unsuccessful
in burning the concrete building to the ground. Maybe they
were first year students who hadn't had any Materials and
Methods classes yet. What survived through all that rancor
was the same beautiful, well thought out multi-layered (and
multi-leveled) building they started with, one that is constantly
more fun and surprising than it probably should be.
Click here for the Yale School of Architecture. Visitors are
welcome at the building- exhibits are often held on the main
floor and free lectures are often available when classes are
in session
Penthouse
at 23 Beekman Place
(1977) New York City, United States
Paul Rudolph lived in a multileveled
townhouse in New York overlooking the East River, in a space
with transparent bridges and elevators- a truly dizzying,
complex space that seemed to change at every turn.
Orange
County Government Center
(1967) Goshen, New York, United States
The people of Goshen (a small town about
100km north of New York City) have yet to realize what they
have in their own backyard. Despite the fact that they have
a classic (albeit inflexible) Paul Rudolph Building, they
are attempting to replace in favor with something more contextural-
something with a few more cornices, a few more pediments,
a lot less originality.
Click here to find your way (while you still can) to see Paul
Rudolph's original Orange County Government Center
Temple
Street Parking Garage
(1962) New Haven, Connecticut, United States
While a parking garage may always just be a parking garage,
a Paul Rudolph designed parking garage is a little more memorable.
The shape of the columns, the rhythm of the facade- it makes
you wonder why other garages always appear so boring.
1918
born Elkton, KY, US
1940 B Arch - Auburn, AL, US
1947 M Arch - Harvard, MA, US
1958 Dean - Yale, CT, US
1997 died New York City, US
Publications
The
Yale Art + Architecture Building
(Building Blocks Series)
by Ezra Stoller (Editor)
(1999) Princeton Architectural Press
Paul
Rudolph's masterpiece, an amazing spatial (and special) experience,
one that needs to be seen to be believed, although these Ezra
Stoller photos come pretty damn close... (read
more)
