There is an fascinating story in Wired.com about the Armadillo Vault. The undulating, self-supported pavilion, built within a 13th-century building in Venice is held together by magic. No screws, no duct tape; not even mortar. Just magic. The formula for this magic? 399 blocks of limestone + compression + gravity. Check it out . . .
This tree-inspired housing tower, designed by a team of architects comprised of Sou Fujimoto Architects, Nicolas Laisné Associés, and Manal Rachdi Oxo architects, has won First Prize in the La Folie architecturale de Richter competition, which was sponsored by the City of Montpellier, France. The project, called L’Arbre Blanc […]
Illinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate liberal arts college located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Wesleyan_University) “Dedicated in 1923, Buck Memorial Library was a gift of the estate of […]
Subtitle: Will The Real John Harvard Please Stand Up. Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), born in Exeter, New Hampshire, is among the most widely viewed American sculptors in history. He is best known for creating the 170-ton, white marble, seated Abraham Lincoln (1922) at the Lincoln Memorial, on the National Mall, […]
Around the turn of the last century, W.T. Littig & Company was known for publishing panoramic views and maps of college campuses and municipalities. Among various artists, Littig & Co. engaged Richard Rummell (1848-1924) whose watercolors were painted from the perspective of a bird’s eye view. Lacking good records, today […]
Chicago architect Walter A. Netsch, Jr. (1920-2008) designed University Hall (purchase above image HERE), as well as all the other buildings, on the East Campus at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in the 1960’s. The 28 story building, with its exposed concrete structure, continues to serve as the […]
To explain the history of Draper Hall at University of Albany requires a short explanation of what defines a normal school, which is what The University at Albany once was. Today, it is not a normal school. 😉 The term normal school was in commonly used to describe […]
Jens Frederick Larson, the architect of Fisher Ames Baker Library at Dartmouth College modeled the building after Independence Hall in Philadelphia (see comparison below). The building was named in honor of the uncle of New York banker and philanthropist, George Fisher Baker. The Federal style library, costing over $2 […]
Located on the circular drive that marks the entrance to the campus, Ames Hall dominates the small Green Mountain College campus in Poultney, Vermont. The building provides housing for 50 students and includes faculty offices, classrooms, and a biology lab. “GMC,” as the college is fondly called by students, was […]
Nott Memorial, at Union College (Schenectady, New York), formerly called Alumni Hall and Graduates’ Hall, and fondly called “The Nott,” has an interesting history. Construction began in 1858, some forty-five years after French architect Joseph Ramée prepared the master plan that included a round building. Construction was based on design […]
