32026062-MIT.Pdf
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
K.'-.- A, N E W Q UA D R A N G L E F O R C O R N E L L U N I V E R S I T Y A Thesis.submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement s for the degree of Master of Architec ture at the Massachusetts Inst itute of Technology August 15, 1957 Dean Pie tro Bel lus ch Dean of the School of Archi tecture and P lanning Professor000..eO0 Lawrence*e. *90; * 9B. Anderson Head oythe Departmen ty6 Arc,hi tecture Earl Robert"'F a's burgh Bachelor of Architecture, Cornell University,9 June 1954 323 Westgate West Cambridge 39, Mass. August 14, 1957 Dean Pietro Belluschi School of Architecture and Planning Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge 39, Massachusetts Dear De-an Belluschi, In partial fulfillment- of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture, I should like to submitimy thesis entitled, "A New Quad- rangle for Cornell University". Sincer y yours, -"!> / /Z /-7xIe~ Earl Robert Fla'nsburgh gr11 D E D I C A T I O N To my wife, Polly A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S The development of this thesis has been aided by many members of the s taff at both M.I.T. &nd Cornell University. W ithou t their able guidance and generous assistance this t hesis would not have been possible. I would li ke to take this opportunity to acknowledge the help of the following: At M. I. T. Dean Pietro Belluschi Prof. Herbert L. Beckwith Prof. Albert Bush-Brown Prof. W. H. Brown And the Special Visiting Critics.: Reginald C. Knight, Paul Rudolph, Minoru Yamasaki, and Imre Halasz. At Cornell University Vice-Pres. John E. Burton Vi ce-Pres. J. L. Zwingle Dean Thomas W. Mackesey Dean Franci s E. Mineaka AssIt Dean Lovell Hulse Prof. H. D. Albright Prof. Willi am W. Austin Prof. Frederick W. Edmundson Prof. F. 0. Waage Mr. John W. Humphries I would also like to acknowledge the help of Mr. Raymond Howes, Assistant to the President of the American Council on Education. T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Title of Thesis .. Letter of Submi ta 0e* . ... .. 11 Dedication..... ... .111 Acknowledgement ....... IV Table of Conten S. .v aind vi Abstract.......... land 2 Introduction**.... .h. .. .... 3 The Major Forces Effecting the Developmen t of Collegiate Arch itecture I.The Change In the Edu cational Philosophy of American Higher Ed ucation Since 1870..4 2. Financing of Higher Education..........31 The Philosophy of Education at CorneII.........46 The Co Il ege of Arc h itecture. The Department of Ar t....... ................... 55 The Department of Fine Arts. The Department of Music..... The Department of Speech and A New Quadrangle f or Cornell University 1. The University Loca tion........ .64 2. The Heart of the Un iversity.... .. 68 3. The Problem............ 0 00 *.70 4. The Selection of a Site. .. 75 5. The Site......... ..... .. 76 6. Present Land Use. 0 .. 76 . 7. Proposed Land Use .. 78 ... 8. Natural Features of th Si .. 80 ... 0 9. Structural Featur es of the SI ..81 ... 0 10. Landscape Restric tions . .. .. .. 81 00.0 II. The Climate...... 0 00 .. 0 ..0 .. 83 . ... 0 12. Student Traffic Fl ow. 0 .. 0 .. ..83 . 13. The Program Requi remen .. ..0 .. 86 14. The Design Aim Footnotes... .... 0 .. .... ...... .94 .0 Bibliography.oso.*. .O.. ...... .97 Design Plates (To be added)..................106 A NEW QUADRANGLE. FOR CORNELL UNIVERSITY M A S T E R IN A R C H IT E C TU RE T HESIS E A R L R F L A N S B UR G H r Fl I. II "WE. C I L _ ~ ~7/ I - * ~ a 7' _______ .7 mm A i'7 71 >, -'I K I.,,' I- I .0 - 0 3 N Vid 311S .3 ~iL_ 11E I FIRST PH ASE eult .::t aR E v:V SECOND P HASE THIRD PH ASE V REMOVED: FRANLIN MALL IULDINELINCOLNMALL BUILtDINGSCONSTRUCTED: roN A:TS8 MNU9 a UMI ART PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT I ELEVATION FROM MAIN QUADRANGLE a . .. m..... g m. , mLq .I I FIRST FLOOR PLAN . '. .o' A L :i / 16* m SC I ITI I --- . ,, D-.. THIRD FLOOR PLAN K_A____:____ i"_____ -_e A NEW/ QUADR ANG LE F O R C O R N E L L U N I V E R S I T Y A B S T R A.C T a. Title: A NEW QUADRANGLE FOR CORNELL UNIVERSITY b. Name of Author: Earl Robert Flansburgh Bachelor of Architecture Cornell University, June 1954 c. Submitted for the degree of Master of Architecture in the Department of Architecture on August 15, 1957 d. Abstract of Thesis: The problem of this thesis is the creation of a new quadrangle for Cornell University. This quad- rangle is to be surrounded by a College of Architecture withifts Department of Art and the Departments of Fine Arts, Music and Speech and Drama in the College of Arts and Sciences. The design of this new outdoor space and the but Idings wh ich surround It is based on the anticipated needs of the University for 1970. The new buildings created by this thesis wi 11 be located at the north end of the main quadrangl e at Cornell. To the south of this site is a majestic view of the Col lege of Arts and Sciences screened by tall elm trees. Directly north of this site Is the Fal Creek Gorg e 150 feet deep with cascading waterfal Is. The view to the west overlooks Cayuga Lake and the rollin g farm land beyond. I. With this beautiful site special attention has been given in t he design to the carefu I placement of the bul Idings to take advantage of the glories of nature. As a background for the development of this thesis a careful study was made of the forces in- fluencing collegiate architecture with particular attention to those which have Influenced Cornell. It Is important here as in all architecture for the architect to understand the special philosophy and needs of the society he is attempting to serve. 2. a. 'I I N T R O D U C T I O N Located in the rolling hi IIs of upstate New York is one of the Iargest and least "livyed" of the Ivy League unive rsities. It is the youngest and most diverse of these historic eastern in- stitutions, Cornell Un Ive rs Ity. This thesis is concer ned with th e future plan- ning of Cornell Univ ersi t and specif Ica II y with the planning of the Col leg e of Archit ecture and its Department of Art an d the departments of Fine Arts, Music and Speech and Drama in the Col lege of Arts and Sciences. This thesis is based o n the estimated requiremen ts for the Univer sity in 1970. As background for the study of the problem at Cornel I this thesis also proposes to show the major forces effecting the devel opment of C ol legiate Architec ture in Amer ica. Collegiate architecture, like all other forms of ar chitecture, is not pro- duced in a vaccum, free of outside in fluences but rather i s sensitive to the various changes in our society. The forces which direct the course of our educ ational idea s also influence the direction of our collegiate architecture. 3 THE MAJOR FORCES EFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGIATE ARCHITECTURE THE MAJOR FORCES EFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGIATE ARCHITECTURE I. The Change in the Educational Philosophy of American Higher Education Since 1870 The American University system at the close of the Civil War was based upon the traditional English concept of higher education. The major cour ses offered by every university or college were the classics and ma t hema tics. Most of these schoo Is in 1870 were small deno minational inst itu tion s. The remaining few were aided by the state or privately endowed. None ,. however, had ga ined a. great reputation. Pres Ident Andrew Dick son Wh ite of Cornell University said in 1874, "As to Uni versities, our prevailing sect system has fal led i two hundred and fifty year s to develop one whi ch ranks with institutions bear I ng that name in other great cifilized nations, some of them younger than a multitude of American colleges. ." When Cornell was founde d in 1865 Presiden t White and Ezra Cornell, the foun der s, ignored the traditional concepts of Engl I sh educat ion and 4 accepted instead the system that was then develop. Ing in Germany. This Germanic philosophy empha- sized the lecture system, the free elective progra m, graduate work, and scientific research. Under thi s system Cornell offered courses in agriculture, engineering, and veterinary me dicine on the same level with the traditional cou rses in the classics and mathematics. Cornell became the first non-technical school to introduce courses in engine ering. The f i rst courses in American History and Oriental and far- eastern modern languages were also offered here in this freer educational atmo sphere. As the found- ers said, these courses were not dominated by, t persons of any one religion or of no religion". 2 This earned the univers i ty the reputation of "god- less nesst?i n the sectar i an pulpits and journals of the day. This Iack of adherence to the tra ditional educ at iona I philosophy had its effect on Cornell's a rch Itectur e.