In 1947, only three homes were used to fulfill classroom and
facility needs at The University of St. Thomas (STU). Through time, attendance grew and space
dwindled. Wanting to expand, but lacking
the funding, the university needed a generous donor. Dominique and John de Menil answered the
call. The Menil’s were very progressive and wanted to express a contemporary
movement that was changing architecture.
In 1956, Philip Johnson was hired by the Menil’s to create an enticing
campus master plan which would accommodate the neighborhood and bring the
community together (Sullivan, 2005). Mr.
Johnson was the obvious choice to fulfill and achieve the daunting task that
was envisioned. He paved the way to St.
Thomas University’s building expansion and the direction it was heading. Mr. Johnson was steadfast in the evolution of
architecture and broke into the Modernist movement, a transition not many were
accustomed to. With much inspiration,
Mr. Johnson created a system of sleek lines, exposed steel, industrialized
colonnades all designed together to add intensity to the universities
structure. His programmatic design
presence is felt as one walks through the campus. It is a minimalism that makes a vast
impression aesthetically and serves a substantial purpose to the faculty,
students and surrounding residents.
Phillip Johnson’s inspiration for STU was that of Thomas
Jefferson’s University of Virginia Academic Village. The standard model of architecture at that
time was to stay true to the classical style which consisted of ornate columns
and temples. These correlations to classical architecture are what the
modernist movement wanted to detract from and prove that simple, minimal, clean
horizontal and vertical principals were the elements that would make effective,
evolutionary design. The similarities
Mr. Johnson wanted to include in his program for STU include the uniting of public
spaces, halls, library and chapel, public open space of the lawn, and a continuous
colonnade uniting buildings and defining separations within the pavilions
(Sullivan, 2005). The materials and facades are minimalistic in a modernist
fashion. Mr. Johnson used the open lawn design to
separate and concurrently unite the flat roofed rectangular shaped buildings. The use of repetitive rectangular shapes and
long rows add a great space for people’s interaction around the campus. This effect proposed to build relationships
within the campus and enhance the learning experience for its students.
The quote “Less is more” is associated with Peter Behrens,
and more famously with Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe. According to William J.R. Curtis’ book Modern
Architecture Since 1900 (1992), “It was the reduction of form to the most expressive
simple geometries, and the radical redefinition of basic classical types” that
set Mr. Van der Rohe’s work apart. Mies
Van der Rohe is a mentor, friend, and great inspiration to Philip Johnson. Mr. Van der Rohe designed Crown Hall at the
Illinois Institute of Technology, which Mr. Johnson found great elements of
aesthetic ideals, design philosophy, enclosure systems and a conduit to express
to the blossoming architectural world that there was no typical order for a
university and its design could transform into the dynamic aesthetics of
modernism (Sullivan, 2005). Following in
Mies’ footsteps, Mr. Johnson chose an industrial style of exposed steel,
columns, beams, and glass for his design at STU. Mr. Johnson designed the quad’s first three
buildings: Welder, Jones, and Strake Hall in 1956-1958 (Gray, 2007). He chose an axial plan, with junctures of
horizontal elements that would accommodate any future expansion.
Forty years later the addition of the Chapel of St. Basil
would be the hierarchy of Mr. Johnson’s design and ultimately the pivotal point
to the union of his program at STU (Gray, 2007). The campus now spans 3 city blocks and
stretches its aesthetics into the surrounding neighborhood of Montrose. Many years had passed since Mr. Johnson
initially started the universities’ layout and his current mode of design was
very different. He built the chapel in a
contrasting way compared to the original buildings. Materials used include white stucco,
concrete, granite, and a golden dome. This new approach helped to express the
changes time had made on his way of design and the city of Houston
(stthom.edu).
Architects and designers were still clasping on to an old
essence of form and order. This
modernist style was gradually becoming the norm but was not common for Houston,
let alone the community of Montrose.
“Less is more," this is the language that Mr. Johnson’s design
wanted to convey. The common
characteristics we see in the succeeding buildings, not built by Mr. Johnson,
demonstrate the rhythm he strived to create. Even though architecture falls in to certain
categories, there is always individual interpretation that happens between
architects. A great architect encourages
growth and displays visual principals with new styles and qualities. Classic architecture will always have a place
in history but designing better buildings means new concepts. Ornate or simple, conventional or futurist,
neoclassical or modern, there is an order to architecture, however, there are
no limits
References
University of St. Thomas, Chapel of St. Basil
Retrieved from http://www.stthom.edu/About/Catholic_Identity/Chapel_of_St_Basil.aqf
Gray, L. October 3,
2007. Philip Johnson's final work in Houston
is for St. Thomas. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://www.chron.com/life/article/Philip-Johnson-s-final-work-in-Houston-is-for-St-1827662.php
Sullivan, M. A.
2005. Chapel of St. Basil,
University of St. Thomas. Retrieved from
http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/texas/houston/stthomasbasil/basil.html
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