School Notes: School of Architecture
January/February 2009

Art & Architecture Building reopens

The rededication of the newly renovated A&A Building, now named Paul Rudolph Hall in honor of the building's architect, was the highlight of a three-day celebration in November that featured panel discussions, lectures, and an exhibition on Rudolph's New Haven works.

Peter Eisenman, the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale, lectured on "Rudolph Then and Now"; and Timothy Rohan, associate professor of art and art history at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, spoke on "The Enigmatic Architecture of Paul Rudolph." Rohan called Rudolph's architecture a turning point in modernism, saying he focused on the relationship between the environment and the building and "introduced regionalism with a focus on locale and identity." Rohan also curated the exhibition "Model City: Buildings and Projects by Paul Rudolph for Yale and New Haven."

Exhibition highlights Rudolph's New Haven portfolio

An exhibition on Rudolph's New Haven works highlights 13 of Rudolph's projects envisioned in the 1950s and 1960s under the auspices of New Haven mayor Richard C. Lee and Yale president A. Whitney Griswold ’29. Included are original drawings, prints, and photographs; newly created architectural models; and a documentary video focusing on Rudolph's urban renewal projects in New Haven. A banner suspended over the exhibit space proclaims, "In contrast to the tabula rasa favored by many advocates of urbanism and modernism, Rudolph advocated weaving new and existing buildings into a tightly integrated whole." Model City: Buildings and Projects by Paul Rudolph for Yale and New Haven is on view in the Architecture Gallery through February 6.

Alumni honored for achievements in green design

Two prestigious organizations -- the U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) -- have recognized three Yale architecture alumni for their roles in the founding of green design in the United States. The alumni -- Donald Watson ’62BArch, ’69MED; William McDonough ’76MArch; and Paul Bierman-Lytle ’78MArch -- were honored at the U.S. Green Building Council's 15th annual international conference in Boston this past November, before a record number of 27,000 attendees. The U.S. Green Building Council presented its Leadership Award to Watson, McDonough, and Bierman-Lytle, while the AIA awarded them its Presidential Citation, naming them "founders of green design in the United States" and recognizing their "courage of commitment to advocate for environmental stewardship . . . in a way that clarified and expanded for others a vision of a better future.