ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION AT CORNELL: 1928-1950 BETWEEN MODERNISM AND BEAUX-ARTS A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Christian Ricardo Nielsen-Palacios August August 1991 and 2018 May 2018 © 2018 Christian Ricardo Nielsen-Palacios ABSTRACT Cornell University’s School of Architecture, the second oldest in the United States, enjoyed for many years a reputation as a quintessential “French” school, based on the teaching methods of the École de Beaux Arts in Paris. Its students and alumni did very well in design competitions, and went on to successful careers all over the country. When the author attended architecture school in Caracas, the majority of the faculty were Cornell alumni from the 50s. Their focus was on modernism, and when they reminisced about Cornell they talked mostly about what they learned studying Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Gropius, among others. For this thesis the author reviewed documents in the university’s archives and corresponded with alumni of the era, in order to look at the transitional period between those two phases in the life of the Cornell school. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Christian Nielsen-Palacios was born in Caracas, Venezuela, of a Danish father (Nielsen) and a Venezuelan mother (Palacios). He attended a Jesuit high school, graduating near the top of his class. He then came to the United States to prepare for college by repeating the final year of high school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Being homesick, he returned to Venezuela and enrolled in what was one of the best and more progressive universities in the country, the “experimental” Universidad Simón Bolívar, founded in the late 60s. He is a member of the 5th class of architects to graduate from the University, in 1981. The faculty of that young school was composed, in great part, of Venezuelan architects who had studied at Cornell in the 50s and early 60s. Therefore, Christian’s education was indirectly affected by the teaching methods and ideas prevalent in Ithaca at the time. After graduation, Christian started his own practice with five other architects, four of them members of the first class to graduate from USB. Most had pursued graduate studies abroad, at Harvard, Yale and MIT, and were also teaching at our Alma Mater. Three years later, Christian decided to follow their example, and chose to attend Cornell, to pursue an M.Arch. with a minor in architectural history. After one semester, Christian realized he was enjoying his minor so much that he decided to formally transfer to the MA program in history of architecture, with a special interest in the history of the profession itself. Christian stayed in Ithaca, became licensed in New York State in 1991, and continues to practice architecture to this day. iii I dedicate this thesis to my parents, C. Steen Nielsen and Beatriz Palacios de Nielsen, who always supported me and my studies, and would have been thrilled to know I actually finished. To my wife, Edie Reagan, for encouraging me to submit it again 27 years after defending it, and to my sons, Austin and Joseph, as proof that when you start something worthwhile, you should finish it no matter when. And to my uncle and godfather Gonzalo Palacios, scholar, role model and almost an architect himself. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank many people for helping shape the architect, historian and person I have become: José Miguel Roig, Cornell Class of ‘58, who was my first professor of architectural history and theory at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Oswaldo Lares ’56, Guillermo Carreras ’57, Alberto Tucker ’61, Julio Maragall ’65, and Jorge Núñez ’66, who were most of the founding faculty at Universidad Simón Bolívar and may have unwittingly “infected” me with the Cornell DNA. My friends and former business partners: Nuri Bofill, Lourdes Bracho, Guillermo Frontado, David Gouverneur and Enrique Larrañaga, who, by their example as architects and scholars, instilled in me the desire for continued learning. If only they had also been Cornellians! RM, who would not like to be named here, but who introduced me to the wonderful world of the Cornell archives and the pleasure of using primary sources. The faculty during my days at Cornell: Christian Otto, Martin Kubelik, Mark Jarzombek, and especially Mary Woods and Val Warke, who were my thesis advisors. They and my classmates during 1984-1987 helped make those years among the most fun and interesting in my life. The alumni who responded to my letters and phone calls asking for recollections of their time at Cornell. Their letters, in Appendix D, are probably the best part of this work. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographical sketch iii Dedication iv Acknowledgements v Table of contents vi List of figures viii PART I INTRODUCTION: THREE POINTS OF DEPARTURE 1 Cornell before the Beaux-Arts 1 2 The methods of the École des Beaux-Arts 6 3 "Beaux-Arts" and "Modern" 12 PART II THE THIRTIES AND THE SURVIVAL OF THE BEAUX-ARTS TRADITION 4 Rejection of the Beaux Arts Institute of Design 15 5 Acceptance of the Beaux-Arts teaching system 20 6 Contrasting student projects of the thirties 27 7 Babcock's legacy of technical competence 34 8 Integration of architecture and fine arts 38 9 Interdependence with landscape architecture 43 10 Traditional teaching of history and theory 48 11 Composition of the faculty in the thirties 55 12 Composition of the student body in the thirties 62 13 Effects of the Depression on the college 70 14 Influence of exhibitions and visiting faculty 75 15 Foreign travel as climax of Cornell education 83 PART III THE FORTIES AND THE RISE OF MODERNISM 16 Three perceptions of modernism at Cornell 89 17 Ancien and Nouveau methods in drawing and design 101 18 Arrival of new faculty and models of instruction 108 19 Introduction of industrial design courses 113 20 Between landscape architecture and city planning 118 21 A modern approach to history and theory 123 22 War, students and faculty 130 23 War and curriculum 136 24 Peace, students and faculty 144 25 A new generation of teachers 148 26 Arrival of unorthodox visitors 152 27 Pilgrimage to Scandinavia 162 vi PART IV CONCLUSION 28 From Bosworth to Mackesey 167 APPENDICES A College of Architecture faculty time-line 171 B Albright Art Gallery invitation to the "First International Exhibition of Modern Architecture" 172 C "Modern Trends in Architecture," by Gilmore D. Clarke 174 D Selected alumni responses to author’s letter 178 BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary sources 257 Secondary sources 259 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 29 Pages 22 and 23 of the 1935-36 Announcement of the College of Architecture Figure 2 30 Page 26 of the 1935-36 Announcement of the College of Architecture Figure 3 32 Page 26 of the 1937-38 Announcement of the College of Architecture Figure 4 33 Page 28 of the 1937-38 Announcement of the College of Architecture Figure 5 41 Postcard-sized sketch by Elizabeth A. Barrus ‘34 Figure 6 71 Table of 1870-1940 admissions and enrollment data (1935 Alumni Letter) Figure 7 95 Dutch style residence Figure 8 132 Enrollment 1925-1955 Figure 9 138 “A Sample War Curriculum” - Courses of instruction, 1942 Figure 10 141 Courses of instruction, 1943 Figure 11 143 Courses of instruction, 1945 viii PART I INTRODUCTION: THREE POINTS OF DEPARTURE 1 Cornell before the Beaux-Arts The architecture program at Cornell University was established in 1871, thanks to the efforts of its first president, Andrew Dickson White. The period discussed in this thesis started sixty years later. Earlier phases of the college's history have been the subject of other works. The following paragraphs are based on three of them, written by Ethel Goodstein,1 Roberta Moudry,2 and Arthur Weatherhead.3 Among A. D. White's many interests, architecture was always recognized as having a starring role. "This love for architecture was furthered by his reading of Ruskin."4 During his frequent trips to Europe, White purchased thousands of architectural books and photographs, as well as casts of architectural sculpture. His collection, at the time the best in the United States, was donated to the university to form the base of the architecture program.5 In addition, White was responsible for the selection of the university's first professor of architecture. At the conclusion of a faculty search described by Moudry, White settled on Rev. Charles Babcock.6 Babcock had trained as an 1 Ethel Goodstein, "Charles Babcock: Architect, Educator and Churchman," MA thesis, Cornell University, 1979. 2 Roberta Moudry, "From Babcock to Beaux-Arts: Architectural Education at Cornell," graduate seminar paper, Cornell University, December 1985. 3 Arthur Weatherhead, The History of Collegiate Education in Architecture in the United States, Los Angeles, 1941. 4 Moudry, op. cit., p. 3. 5 Weatherhead, op. cit., p. 33. 6 Moudry, op. cit., pp. 4-6. 1 apprentice in the Gothic Revivalist office of Richard Upjohn (his father-in-law), which may have been one of the reasons White picked him. Babcock's practical training, and his commitment to the Gothic,7 would define the first phase of the architectural program at Cornell. The "Babcock Era"8 would see its growth from a small department within the College of Engineering (with the Reverend as its director and sole faculty member), to an independent college of the university. For almost a decade, Babcock and a few student assistants taught every subject in the four-year course, leading to a Bachelor of Science degree. Instruction was pragmatic in character, similar to what Babcock had received as an apprentice in Upjohn's office.