Yale Art + Architecture Building, New Haven, ConnecticutArchitect : Paul Rudolph Presented By:

Charu KumariVikram Bengani

Year ThreeB. Architecture

School Of Planning & ArchitectureNew Delhi

Disclaimer

This is not an academic paper. This is a case study performed as part of a campus design

project.The authenticity of the data/information cannot be guaranteed with certainty. However, the information is fairly accurate and has been collected from the internet while spatial analysis has

been performed by the authors. The various sources have been cited in the ‘Bibliography’ page.

This presentation is a condensed version of the author’s learnings and all the information available on the internet.

Pa ul RudolphIn June of 1957, it was announced that he had accepted the chairmanship of the Department of Architecture at Yale University. During his years at Yale he began receiving commissions for monumental structures from throughout the Northeast including the Art and Architecture Building at Yale, the Government Services Centre in Boston and the SMTI / UMass Dartmouth campus. By this time he had adopted a distinctive style, mostly in concrete, that drew from many sources including Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier as well as his own prodigious imagination.

October 23, 1918 – August 8, 1997

Architectural Style & Design ApproachOne of the earliest known examples of Brutalist architecture in America is Paul Rudolph's Yale Art and Architecture Building in New Haven, Connecticut, an imposing, fortress-like building that juxtaposes masses of textured concrete with layers of steel-framed glazing.Brutalism historically frequently used to build educational building, high rise housing and shopping malls

Completed in 1963, the building is formed of intersecting volumes of bush-hammered concrete. Smooth concrete and glass horizontal elements are supported by a sequence of towers that protrude above the roof in a series of turrets.

Its powerful forms, textured surfaces, complex spaces, sensitive urban presence, and many allusions to the past demonstrated how to recover the things that Rudolph said the debased functionalism of the 1950s and the International Style had 'brushed aside', namely monumentality, urbanism, symbolism, and decoration. Massive piers of concrete rise. Projections are over-emphasised

throughout. Heavy slabs are crossed by thin slabs. Spaces inside cross too and offer sequences of most dramatic effects by unexpected vistas inside the building and even out of it

LOCATION- 180 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511, United States

CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

YALE SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURECOORDINATES- 41.3123° N, 72.9240° W

CLIMATE- HUMID CONTINENTAL CLIMATE, WITH COLD WINTERS AND HOT SUMMERS.

SUMMERS- HIGH- 82F TO 77F, 66F TO 60FWINTERS- HIGH- 42F TO 37F, LOW- 28F TO 23F

PRECIPITATION- The annual average precipitation at New Haven is 52.73 Inches. Rainfall in is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. The wettest month of the year is May with an average rainfall of 4.70 Inches.

LANDSCAPE- Yale’s semi- urbanized campus covers over 1,100 acres of maintained and natural landscapes that range from college courtyards, quadrangles, and designated garden areas to sports fields, a golf course, and a nature preserve.

(COAST OF ATLANTIC OCEAN)

YALE ART AND ARCHITECTURE BUILDING

YALE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

YALE ART AND ARCHITECTURE BUILDINGCORE CAMPUS

Yale’s campus is divided into eight distinct and interrelated planning precincts:1. Core Campus 2. Broadway/Tower Parkway 3. Hillhouse4. Science Hill 5. Upper Prospect 6. Medical Center 7. Athletic Fields 8. West Campus

Immediate Context

YALE BUILDINGS

YALE ART AND ARCHITECTURE BUILDING

GARDEN

ROADS

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

“Although Rudolph’s design had its defenders, many saw the building’s hulking forms and rough textures as abrasive. Since its completion, the iconic building has dominated the downtown

commercial district over which it presides”

Yale Art Gallery (Louis Kahn ) on the opposite side across the road.

Public café on the extension building on the ground floor

Building around the corner of the street at the L-Junction

Climatic Conditions [New Haven, Connecticut]TEMPERATURE- Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from -4°C to 28°C and is rarely below -12°C or above 31°C.

SUN- The length of the day varies significantly over the course of the year. The shortest day is December 21 with 9:11 hours of daylight; the longest day is June 20 with 15:09 hours of daylight.

CLOUDS- The median cloud cover ranges from 49% (partly cloudy) to 70% (partly cloudy). The sky is cloudiest on April 27 and clearest on August 9. The clearer part of the year begins around June 18. The cloudier part of the year begins around December 7.

PRECIPITATION- The probability that precipitation will be observed at this location varies throughout the year. Precipitation is most likelyaround February 10, occurring in 45% of days. Precipitation is least likely around September 11, occurring in 34% of days.

SNOW- The likelihood of snow falling is highest around February 1, occurring in 24% of days. The season in which it is relatively likely for snow to fall spans from November 26 to April 7.

HUMIDITY- The relative humidity typically ranges from 64% (mildly humid) to 96% (very humid) over the course of the year, rarely dropping below 26% (dry) and reaching as high as 100% (very humid). The air is driest around April 15, at which time the relative humidity drops below 100% (very humid) three days out of four; it is most humid around July 24, exceeding 93% (very humid) three days out of four.

WIND- Over the course of the year typical wind speeds vary from 0 m/s to 7 m/s (calm to moderate breeze), rarely exceeding 10 m/s (fresh breeze). The highest average wind speed of 4 m/s (gentle breeze) occurs around March 5, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 7 m/s (moderate breeze). The lowest average wind speed of 3 m/s (light breeze) occurs around July 24, at which time the average daily maximum wind speed is 6 m/s(moderate breeze).

Topography & LandscapeThe original plan of New Haven—the Nine Square Plan of 1641—gave the City a clear grid organization. Set on a plain and surrounded by two rivers, the coastline and the rock ridges, the City’s early growth established a powerful relationship between town and natural setting. The two prominent landmarks—East Rock and West Rock—led to a northeast-southwest orientation of the City grid. Similarly, Prospect Hill abuts the Nine Squares and greatly influences the layout of the City to the north of Downtown. The historic post roads, which follow topography and natural stream crossings, radiate outward from the town center and shape the surrounding neighbourhoods. These natural features helped shape the City of New Haven and the layout of the campus within the City.

One University—three Related CampusesDiagram Of Existing Yale And Related New Haven Open Space

ContextNEIGHBORHOODS- The neighbourhoods of New Haven were shaped by the development of residential areas, and accompanying commerce and manufacturing, which grew in roughly concentric rings moving outward from the Nine-Square core.

PARKS AND OPEN SPACE- Another telling diagram is that of the park system of the City— a prominent ring of open spaces at the perimeter converging on the New Haven Green at its center. At the regional scale, Yale Athletic Fields is part of the ring of parks and natural features at the City’s edge.

While the New Haven Green is the symbolic center of the park network, Yale’s many courtyards, quadrangles and walkways provide an intricate open space resource.

A NETWORK OF PARKS AND OPEN SPACES ENCIRCLES THE CITY.

FOUR DOWNTOWN Streets- Four Downtown streets help define both Yale and the City:

1.Chapel Street- considered by many to be the “Main Street” of New Haven, is shared by the University and the City2.Elm Street- A majority of campus facilities lie within a block of this north-south corridor.3.College Street- substantial barrier between Old Campus and Cross Campus4.Church Street- New Haven’s most civic street with its concentration of public, government and office buildings.

THE FOUR SIGNATURE DOWNTOWN STREETS: COLLEGE, CHURCH, ELM AND CHAPEL

Rudolph envisioned the building as a teaching tool, peppering his Modernist castle with fragments of history: plaster casts of Assyrian reliefs and Parthenon friezes; Le Corbusier’s Modular measure; original Louis Sullivan gates; and locally salvaged Ionic capitals. Incorporated with remarkable self-confidence despite the contemporary sway of Bauhaus ahistoricism, many of these items have been preserved or restored.

“External forces dictated that this building turn the corner and relate to the modern building opposite as well as suggest that it belongs to Yale University. The internal forces demanded an environment suitable for ever varying activities which will be given form and coherence by the defined spaces within. As the years go by, it is hoped other interests and activities will take place within the spaces, but the

space itself will remain.” - Paul Rudolph. The Architecture of Paul Rudolph. New York: PraegerPublishers, 1970. p120.

His spatial theatricality reached its climax in the building's heart, the two-story drafting room, presided over by a marble Roman statue of the goddess Minerva.

Cultural Aspects

Further thumbing his nose at the ahistorical inclinations of the Bauhaus, Rudolph playfully decorated the A&A with bits and pieces of history --Assyrian reliefs in the stairwells, Ionic capitals perched on metal poles in the lecture hall.

DESIGN

PAINTING

EXHIBITION AND LIBRARY

SCULPTURING

GRAPHICS AND DRAWING

Terraced Levels, An Open Plan Core And Plays On Light And Shadow – Although Externally It Features The Raw Concrete Of Brutalist Architecture.

A A’

B

B’

SECTION AA’

SECTION BB’

Thirty-seven changes of level accommodate functional and circulation areas, and since walls are de-emphasized these levels are defined principally by floor and ceiling planes

MECHANICAL SERVICES

CIRCULATION SPACE

ELEVATORS

STAIRCASE

MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING TO THE FIRST FLOOR

ENTRANCE TO THE PUBLIC CAFE

PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT

MOVEMENT FOR SERVICES

EXTERNALEXIT STARICASE

UNLOADING AND LOADING DOCK

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

THIRD FLOOR PLAN

MECHANICAL SERVICES

CIRCULATION SPACE

ELEVATORS

STAIRCASE

PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT

MOVEMENT FOR SERVICES

FOURTH FLOOR PLAN

FIFTH FLOOR PLAN

ELEVATORS

CIRCULATION SPACE

STAIRCASE

MECHANICAL SERVICES

PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT

SIXTH FLOOR PLAN

SEVENTH FLOOR PLAN

ELEVATORS

CIRCULATION SPACE

STAIRCASE

MECHANICAL SERVICES

PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT

MOVEMENT FOR SERVICES

BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN

SECOND BASEMENT FLOOR PLAN

MECHANICAL SERVICES

CIRCULATION SPACE

ELEVATORS

STAIRCASE

PEDESTRIAN MOVEMENT

MOVEMENT FOR SERVICES

HASTINGS HALL

Pre - 2008 Renovation Scenario

• series of unsympathetic renovations, which split and reconfigured its soaring double-height drafting room and obstructed light and views.• The external facade was scarred and barely recognizable after Rudolph’s vast fenestrations were filled in with double-glazed windows

that were disrespectful of the original geometries. • Interior volumes lost their definition not only through unwelcome intrusions and divisions but, more importantly, by removal of the

ceiling planes and the signature linear lighting system

For the project team in 2006, the task was imposing: restore a controversial, commanding piece of American architectural heritage while introducing new infrastructure and sustainability measures. To honour the Modernist cult figure Rudolph had become after he designed this monument to the architecture department that defined them

A large fire on the night of June 14, 1969 caused extensive damage. Some have claimed that the fire was the result of arson committed by a disgruntled student, but this charge has remained unproven.

As the National Trust for Historic Preservation has argued,

“the greenest building is the one that already exists”Applying today’s design and energy standards to existing buildings without compromising the original project vision.

Renovating the old Architecture building & the new Loria Art Center

• Though the Loria interior pales beside the architecture school’s spatial invention, Gwathmey, following Rudolph’s cues, wisely retains an internal courtlike separation between the two structures, enriched by constant views back to the A&A. A new, skylit reading room, extending the original library across the ground floor, connects the two wings, forming a visually, but not physically, accessible courtyard.

• Restoring Rudolph's original plan, removing the levels added in its post-fire reconstruction, inserting historically accurate glazing and restoring the concrete work. Rudolph’s orange and grey colour scheme was honoured with the refitting of a vibrant orange carpet that runs throughout, and new furnishings.

• The design results from the integration of programmatic, structural and mechanical needs. It includes the restoration of exterior walls; the installation of historically correct windows; and upgrades to all building facilities including the exhibition gallery, jury and studio spaces; study areas; and administrative and faculty offices. It also introduces new lighting and furnishings throughout and brings the structure into compliance with current building and fire code regulations.

Double Height Spaces creating a visual connection between adjascent functions.

Design Approach

Interiors as grey [dull/neutral] concrete vs. earthy orange [bright and exciting] Carpets and furniture

Natural light bounces on the carpet and illuminates the entire space as warm interiors imprinting warth on the lifeless concrete

Meeting current disability friendly requirements by the codes was a difficult task. The original plan had 37 level on 9 floors rendring incorporation disability access automatic

The 2008 renovation restored the original linear lighting system wjich beautifully juxtaposed into the vertical concrete texture

Like every brutalist buildings, this one retains all the joints and holes caused by the casting of concrete in place. Rudolph utilised this as an opportunity to create texture.

Structural System

• Internally the building is organized around a central core space defined by four large concrete slab columns that, similar to the external towers, are hollow to accommodate mechanical services.

• Cast-in-Place Concrete [RCC]• Bush Hammered Finish to the face of the

exposed concrete

Hollow RCC Columns

RCC Shear walls

GwathmeySiegel’s Addition -History of Art Building

Axis

Original Yale Art + Architecture Building Cross-Courtyard Axis Plan By Paul Rudolph

Section showing hollow columns used as service and storage area

Building Construction• The strong vertical striations of the corduroy-textured surfaces are obtained by

pouring concrete into vertically-ribbed wood forms, that are then stripped away, and concrete edges hand-hammered to expose the aggregate. it controls staining and minimizes the effect of discoloration inherent in concrete.

• To reproduce the original surface texture, 2 + 1/4-inch-wide tongue-and- groove red oak flooring planks, unfinished and unsanded, were used for the formwork.

The 114,000 sf Brutalist building, which is constructed of cast-in-place concrete, has a total of 37 different levels on nine floors, two below grade, and is a cornerstone of Yale’s vibrant arts campus.

Completed in 1963, the building is formed of intersecting volumes of bush-hammered concrete. Smooth concrete and glass horizontal elements are supported by a sequence of towers that protrude above the roof in a series of turrets.

Massive piers of concrete rise. Projections are over-emphasised throughout.Heavy slabs are crossed by thin slabs. Spaces inside cross too and offer sequences of most dramatic effects by unexpected vistas inside the building and even out of it,"

Slabs of ribbed concrete run in vertical sections on the interior and exterior of the 11,000-square-metre building.

Inside, the complex floor plan is made up of 37 terraced levels spaced across seven main storeys and two basement floors. Each level overlooks a central atrium that features a sunken pit and is topped by a series of skylights, while narrow concrete walkways connect the spaces on either side of the well.

The main entrance is set back from the street, accessed through a chute and stairwell between two concrete columns.

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM

Mechanicals ElectricalsServicesWorkshopsMain HallWoodshopDigital Media

Noisy & Private Areas

Entry Through Staircases & Elevator

Use of Sky lights to light interior reading room space.

Drawing Studio

Double height Hasting’s Hall

ClassroomsLecture Room

Offices

Storage for the above functions

Relatively Queiter & Semi Private Areas

Back Entry

Library

Department OfficesAministration

Public Café

Storage & TerachingLabs

Quiet zone near Library, Noisier Zone near the office half

Quiet & Public Areas

Back Entry

Public ZoneThwo Storeyed Exhibition Space & related prefunctions

Seminar RoomsConference RoomsLecture Halls

Unhindered entry from the Road outside

Noisy & Public Areas

High Crowd DensityMass student gathereingDepartmental & Faculty rooms

Seminar roomLecture room

Interlocking planes emphasising solid/Void Relationship

Administrative offices on mezzanine Overlooking exhibition space

Access from 2nd and 4th floor via Elevator or staircase

Quiet & Semi-Private Areas

4 Studios

Terrace to sketch& Hangout space

Threshold achieved by changing levels

Green roof

Natural lighting for all studios NSEW

Common Double height Jury Space

Print + Laser CutiingRoom

Quiet & Private Areas Jury space remained delineated through a change in flooring material.

Painting and graphic art studios are on the top two levels, with an open terrace for sketching.

Finally, there is a penthouse apartment for guest critics, that also has its own terrace

Façade systemThe 2008 restoration specified vast glass sheets developed to reduce heat gain and energy consumption. After mock-ups were evaluated for aesthetics and performance. The project team selected a glazing product that provided suitable insulating properties, low-emissivity (low-e), and glare reduction, while reproducing, as closely as possible, the look of the original windows. Fabricated by Viracon, the 8-by-12-foot panels were some of the largest single sheets of insulating glass ever made in the United States.

Zinc + Limestone [Gwathemey]

Exposed Concrete [Rudolph]

Aluminium + Glass [Gwathemey]Reinforcing Integration and articulation of structure.

This Monumentality had been lost in the early 1950s ‘due to the debased functionalism’ as quoted by Rudolph himself. However this Shear Honest Brutalism era building achieves balance by using large Fenestration covered with glass. Façade is divide furthermore by vertical columns suplimented with the vertical hammered textured concrete and Beams in the horizontal direction. The same principle develops inside as interlocking vertical and horizontal planes,

Entry Between two massive hollow columns resembling turrents to a fortress making this structure monumental

Building Services

• The A&A’s notorious lack of climate control, or even airflow, has been tackled with modern mechanical systems, largely housed in the addition, and thermally efficient windows. Historically accurate but inefficient elements, such as oversized glazing or low-insulating concrete walls, were offset by innovations in low-e insulating glass units, high-efficiency HVAC systems and controls, daylighting and occupancy sensors, air handling, storm-water management, non-potable water reuse systems were deployed.

• Air-handling units in the lecture hall and classrooms are equipped with enthalpy heat exchangers, which salvage energy from returned building air and transfer it to incoming fresh air. To respond dynamically to building usage, Aircuity, an air-quality system, monitors carbon dioxide levels and reduces ventilation rates when rooms are unoccupied.

• Water-saving fixtures, Old staircase modified to be storage room• To support the local economy, the project team utilized local labor and materials wherever possible. • The original building did not employ any sprinklers. Fire sprinklers with exposed pipes and sprinkler heads were added over the last

20 years, contributing to the overall run-down look of the building. As part of the 2008 work, a new sprinkler system, which employed wall sprinklers to create fire separations between spaces, was added. With care- fully selected, discreet locations for the piping, the system brought the building into full compatibility with current fire codes.

Stacked Staircase

Void In The Middle providing Light wells & sky lighting for basement floors

Second Basement where

all mechanical room & services

are located

Lighting control All inside fixtures are positioned to shine toward the building interior, rather than out through windows. Lighting power densities are kept at low levels to minimize light pollution, while maintaining the look of the historic Rudolph lamps with a new, more energy-efficient fixture.

Custom fixtures with metal halide lamps replicated the appearance of the original incandescent lights, consume only 39 watts, rather than 150. Aluminum reflective paint, vernal lenses, and prismatic lamps result in a scattered-light

Between the four central piers two skylights rise as giant clerestories, intensifying natural light in the center of the space that receives it on all four sides through peripheral glazing

Visual Quality

Restrained use of lively colours— mainly orange—and cleverly built-in furnishings enhance the architecture, which is intended 'to excite and challenge the occupants,' says Rudolph

The orange works remarkably well in softening the Brutalist architecture and in reinforcing the importance of these spaces of presentation

Carefully placed History of art building against the A+A building results in no hindrance to the views from the architectural sections of the building which start from the fourth floor, also permitting usable north light.

"Rudolph has been criticized for the serious functional shortcomings of the building: that he put the areas he cared least about in the basement; that the painters are very disturbed by south light; that the sculptors are in the low-ceiling 'caves'; that the best spaces are reserved for architectural activity. Functionally, Rudolph's building is a studied, politically architectural statement. Architecturally, it tends to extened beyond its own urban context. It cleverly establishes a general urban scale and a particular internal scale, both compatibly and expressively related.“- Paul Heyer, Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America.

p300-301.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/arts/design/28yale.html?_r=0

https://weatherspark.com/averages/30535/New-Haven-Connecticut-United-States

http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/26/yale-art-and-architecture-building-paul-rudolph-brutalism/

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Art_and_Arch_Building.html

https://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/2241?page=2

http://www.world-architects.com/pages/insight/spaces-for-learning

http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/9990/title/yale-university-s-intelligent-design.aspx

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Art_and_Arch_Building.html

http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/portfolio/archives/0902yale-1.asp

http://www.dezeen.com/2014/09/26/yale-art-and-architecture-building-paul-rudolph-brutalism/

Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects

Sustainable Restoration of Yale University’s Art + Architecture Building, RUSSELL M. SANDERS et All

Bibliography