Rudolph Hall, also known as the Yale Art and Architecture Building or the A & A Building, is one of the earliest and best known examples of Brutalist architecture in the United States. The building houses Yale University's School of Architecture (it once also housed the

School of Art An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

) and is located in New Haven,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Construction

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Paul Rudolph, and completed in 1963, the complex building contains over thirty floor levels in its seven stories. The building is made of ribbed, bush-hammered concrete. The design was influenced by

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

's Larkin Administration Building, in

Buffalo, NY Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

and the later buildings of Le Corbusier. When the building first opened, it was praised widely by critics and

academics An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

, and received several prestigious awards, including the ''Award of Honor'' by the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

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architecture critic, Ada Louise Huxtable, called it "a spectacular tour de force." As time went by, however, the critical reaction to the building became more negative. Architecture historian

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

bemoaned the structure's oppressive monumentality.

Fire

A large fire on the night of June 14, 1969 caused extensive damage and during the repairs, many changes were made to Rudolph's original design. Some have claimed that the fire was the result of arson committed by a disgruntled student, but this charge has remained unproven.

Renovation

Appreciation of the structure has increased in recent years, with Yale investing $126 million for the building's renovation. The School of Art moved out to its own building and the edifice is undergoing an addition and renovation with the intent of restoring it to the design originally envisioned by Rudolph. The renewed structure will restore the rooftop penthouse, a dismantled student lounge, and previously destroyed bridges and will be adjoined to a new Art History department. The commission for the renovation went to Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, of which

Charles Gwathmey Charles Gwathmey (June 19, 1938 – August 3, 2009) was an American architect. He was a principal at Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, as well as one of the five architects identified as The New York Five in 1969. Gwathmey was perhaps be ...

was a Yale Architecture alumnus and former Rudolph student. Previous renovation schemes by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Richard Meier, and Beyer Blinder Belle have been commissioned.

References

External links

*
The Building That Won't Go Away
" article in Yale alumni magazine
Gwathmey Siegel Yale University School of Art and Architecture Renovation and new History of Art Building and Arts Library project page

Article on building renovation
from Yale Daily News (February 2008)
AIArchitect article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yale Art And Architecture Building University and college buildings completed in 1963 University and college academic buildings in the United States Art and Architecture Building Paul Rudolph buildings Brutalist architecture in Connecticut Yale School of Art Yale School of Architecture

Construction

Fire

Renovation

See also

References

External links