~Yale Arts Library Blog~

The Paul Rudolph Foundation was established in 2002 by a group of friends, colleagues and former associates with the intent to further the preservation, knowledge and understanding of the work of one of the important late modernist architects and educators Paul M. Rudolph (1918-1997).

Check out the blog maintained by the Paul Rudolph Foundation here. One of the best things I found on the blog was this flickr group dedicated to Rudolph’s work. A particularly good set of pics, of the Bass residence in Fort Worth (seen below), can be found here.

Posted by Chris

The Art & Architecture Addition: What Would You Have Done? Lawrence Biemiller Buildings & Grounds 6/3/08

“But before the harsh words start flying in earnest, ask yourself what you would have done in Charles Gwathmey’s position… Do you imitate your professor’s building, if you can, and subject yourself to criticism for not doing something original? Do you come up with a design that’s completely different and then take the heat for being unsympathetic? Do you ask yourself what your professor would have wanted you to do? He certainly didn’t put up copycat buildings himself—in 1963 he was celebrated for his originality. Would he have failed you for doing something imitative?”

Posted by Chris

image: Stephen Vincent Kobasa

Stephen Kobasa invokes such architectural associations as the Pantheon in Rome, Lewis Carroll’s playing cards and the lost city of Atlantis in his glowing review of Paul Rudolph’s Temple Street Garage.

Classical Garage: Rediscovering a work of art behind the wreckage Stephen Kobasa New Haven Advocate 11/29/07

“Reimagining the vaults of the Emperor Trajan’s markets or the Coliseum cellars, the architect gives the building monumentality without dehumanizing scale. The low walls at each level, punched out with broken pediments, make motion seem imminent. It is as if this were some great breathing machine, with its slabs on hinges where we expect them to expand and contract.”

Posted by Chris

“Asked what needed to be restored in the Rudolph building, Mr. Stern said: ‘Everything.’ In some places, the rebar was coming through the concrete, which had been patched over with precast concrete panels. Rudolph’s original ceilings, which were sprayed asbestos, were ripped out, probably in the 1970s, Mr. Stern said. The building had never had air-conditioning, which made it unbearable in warm weather. The heating and electrical systems needed updating, as did the lighting system, which was inefficient by today’s standards. The original windows, which were not insulated, had been replaced in 1994, but with windows much smaller than the ones Rudolph used; they are being replaced again.

“‘The building is [stripped] down now to where it was six months from completion, in 1962,’ Mr. Stern said in an interview with The New York Sun. ‘The windows are being put in as we speak.’”

Pennies To Build, Millions To Restore New York Sun KATE TAYLOR 11/26/07

Posted by: Tanya

Restoration of iconic Rudolph building is key step in creation of Arts Complex Yale Bulletin November 16, 2007|Volume 36, Number 11

“The arts and architecture library will be vastly expanded and transformed, as the University’s art-and-architecture and drama libraries and its arts of the book collections — currently located in separate buildings across campus — are integrated into a single, comprehensive resource. The new Haas Family Arts Library will straddle the two buildings of the arts complex at the ground-floor level.”

Posted by: Tanya

“Plans to move a 1956 house designed by Paul Rudolph from a bluff in Rhode Island rather than demolish it fell through….”

New Fate for Rudolph House: Deal to Relocate It Collapses ROBIN POGREBIN New York Times 6/13/07

(Photo by Ryan T. Conaty for The New York Times)
Posted by: Tanya

“It seemed destined for the wrecking ball, like so many other midcentury buildings by the architect Paul Rudolph.

“It wasn’t that the owners didn’t appreciate the sleek, rectangular house; they simply wanted a larger vacation home for the site, on a scenic bluff in Watch Hill, R.I.

“Thanks to two New York designers, however, that 1956 clapboard Rudolph dwelling has been spared the fate of its demolished siblings. This week a crew is dislodging the house from its foundations in preparation for its move to Catskill, N.Y.”

To Preserve a House, a Plan to Move It ROBIN POGREBIN New York Times May 23, 2007

Posted by: Tanya

Image credit: Uli Seit for The New York Times

Reacting to the recent demolision of a Paul Rudolph house in Westport, CT and the potential destruction of more of Rudolph’s buildings, Fred Bernstein chronicles his Rudolph-themed roadtrip, including a trip to New Haven, in a recent Times article.

A Road Trip Back to the Future Fred A. Bernstein New York Times March 23, 2007

“From Boston, it’s a two-hour drive…to New Haven and Rudolph’s most famous building: the Art and Architecture Building at Yale…Rudolph designed half a dozen other buildings in New Haven. At his Temple Street Parking Garage, the lampposts are concrete curlicues. The Mansfield Street Apartments, owned by Yale, are a kind of hill town of brick and concrete blocks. And at his Greeley Memorial Lab, soaring spaces supported by treelike columns have been broken up into a rabbit warren of offices, a virtual shantytown within what was meant to be a light-filled pavilion. Dorie Baker, a spokesman for Yale, said, ‘The administration is well aware that something needs to be done.’”

Note: The Times only offers it’s articles for free for one week but has recently began offering a complimentary subscription to anyone with a valid college or university email address. Also, if you can access the Yale network try LexisNexis Academic Universe for older articles.

Posted by: Chris Z

“Architect’s rendering of the Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art by Charles Gwathmey, adjacent to the Paul Rudolph Art & Architecture building to the left.”

MAJOR GIFT TO FUND NEW HOME FOR HISTORY OF ART CENTER AT YALE UNIVERSITY 3/1/07 Yale University Office of Public Affairs

Rudolph’s 1960 Blue Cross/Blue Shield Building in Boston and Piano’s proposed design for Trans National Place

“BOSTON, March 1 — A plan to demolish a 1960 office tower by the influential architect Paul Rudolph threatens to pit a prominent developer backed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino against preservationists who see the building as a seminal example of midcentury Modernism.

“If the developer, Steve Belkin, prevails, Mr. Rudolph’s 13-story structure will be supplanted by an 80-story skyscraper designed by one of today’s biggest names, the Italian architect Renzo Piano.”

Another Building by a Noted Modernist Comes Under Threat, This Time in Boston David Hay, New York Times, 3/7/07

Rudolph-Designed House Comes Down
By Jennifer Connic, Westport Now January 13, 2007

“’It’s sadly ironic that as interest in Modernist architecture is awakening, this house goes down,’ said Morley Boyd, Westport Historic District Commission chairman. ‘This serves as an example that underscores the importance of designating a home as historic. If a house is not designated, it isn’t safe.’”

“‘…The house is not only important architecturally to Westport, [Michael Glynn, an architect who tried to save the house] said, but it’s also an important national and international example of Rudolph’s work.

“This will reach a national and international level,” he said. ‘We just didn’t have enough time (to save the house). We did the best we could.’”

More articles and photos from Westport Now re: the demolition

Riverview High School–Image from Sarasota Florida Historical Resources

Magazine making documentary on Rudolph buildings
BY RACHEL BROWN HACKNEY Pelican Press January 10, 2007

“An internationally known magazine that focuses on architecture and design is producing a documentary on the historic Paul Rudolph buildings at Riverview High School in Sarasota, which are scheduled to be demolished to make way for new facilities set to open for the 2009-2010 school year.”

“As part of a settlement announced today in Stamford Superior Court, the contract owners of the house designed by modernist architect Paul Rudolph at Westport’s 16 Minute Man Hill have agreed to negotiate with a potential buyer for one week.

“Westport developer David Waldman and his wife Yvette will work through Jan. 12 to negotiate in good faith with an unnamed potential buyer. If they cannot reach an agreement by then, they will demolish the house.”

Settlement Reached Over Rudolph House January 5, 2007 Westport Now Jennifer Connic

Image from Yale Bulletin

“Although admired by many architects and critics, Rudolph and his work have been under attack before and some of his buildings have been threatened with demolition for various reasons. In fact, one building has already been demolished in New York.

“Another site, ArBITAT Architects observes that ‘Brutalists rarely got as brutal’ and that Rudolph ’suffered the singular misfortune of designing the Yale Art and Architecture Building.’”

Other Structures of Famed Architect Also Stir Feuds
By Don Casciato, January 5, 2007 Westport News

Restoring Kahn’s Gallery, and Reclaiming a Corner of Architectural History, at Yale Nicolai Ouroussoff, New York Times, December 11, 2006

“The restoration of the Yale University Art Gallery reawakens one of America’s great architectural beauties from a slumber that has lasted too long. Like the return of a long-lost friend, however, it may resurrect a few old wounds.”

Paul Rudolph’s Art & Architecture Building, the once and future home of the Arts Library, is mentioned here as well, “The renovation is likely to shed new light on the interplay between Kahn’s and Rudolph’s visions. ..When finished, the building should feel as audacious as it did four decades ago, a delicious counterpart to Kahn’s restrained elegance.”