Cornell Central Campus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Central Campus is the primary academic and administrative section of Cornell University's Ithaca, New York campus. It is bounded by Libe Slope on the west, Fall Creek on the north, and Cascadilla Creek on the South.
Contents |
[edit] History
A key element in the founding of Cornell in Ithaca was Ezra Cornell's donating his farm for the site of the university. With the exception of Cascadilla Hall, the site was devoid of buildings so the campus evolved based on the hilly terrain and the conflicting visions of its designers, starting with Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White.
Over the years, the Buildings and Properties Committee of Cornell's Board of Trustees has maintained the stewardship of campus planning supported by a Vice President for Planning, Planning Office, and in recent years, a University Architect. Periodically, outside architects and consultants, beginning with Frederick Olmsted have been commissioned to develop master plans. Because the entire campus is subject to a special class of zoning, land use decisions are largely made internally rather than by the Ithaca zoning process. However, construction or renovation of statutory college buildings are subject to additional planning steps involving the New York State University Construction Fund Office.
In 2006-2007, Cornell embarked on another in its series of master plans, retaining Urban Strategies Inc. of Toronto as a consultant.
Historically, Cornell has been reluctant to demolish its buildings, but has repeatly renovated and found new uses for old structures. In 1971, Ithaca adopted a pioneering landmark and historic preservation ordinance, with the Arts Quadrangle and a number of individual buildings being designated landmarks or historic districts.[2]
[edit] Arts Quadrangle
Cornell and White adopted the quadrangle model for organizing academic buildings around formal open spaces. The quadrangle plan was rooted in traditional models, while the heavy and solid appearance of the simple Italian Renaissance style early stone buildings -- Morrill (1866) and White (1867) Halls (both by Buffalo architects Wilcox and Porter), and McGraw (1869) and West Sibley (1870) Halls (both by Syracuse architect Archimedes Russell) -- reflect Ezra Cornell's unschooled and fiscally practical taste. Together, Morrill, McGraw and White Halls comprise the earliest symbol of the fledgling university, "Stone Row", so named for their native gray silt stone building material.
While the earliest buildings were designed by outside architects, by 1871 Cornell had established one of the early architecture schools and many of the later buildings were designed by its professors and students. Charles Babcock was the first of these professors. Franklin (1882; now Tjaden) and Lincoln (1888)[3] Halls reflect Babcock's eclectic simplified interpretation of the Romanesque Revival style. William H. Miller, who was guided in his architectural studies by Cornell President Andrew D. White, also employed the Romanesque Revival style in the design of Uris Library (dedicated 1891), one of the most important 19th century buildings at Cornell and generally considered to be Miller's masterpiece. The simple classically based forms of William H. Miller's Stimson Hall (1902)[4], and the Sibley Dome (1902), by later Cornell architectural graduate Arthur N. Gibb, reflect evolving tastes and styles at the turn of the 20th century. Goldwin Smith Hall (1904) and the adjacent Sheldon Memorial Exedra and Sundial (installed 1910), are two of the few historic structures on the campus designed by a nationally prominent firm, in this case Carrère and Hastings. These buildings reflect the Neoclassical style widely favored for early 20th century public buildings. Miller-designed Boardman Hall, constructed to house the Law School in 1892, archored the south end of the Quad until it was demolished in 1959.[5]
A central focus of the Arts Quad are statues of Cornell and White facing each other from the western and eastern edges of the quad. In 1960, Boardman Hall was demolished and replaced with the 240,026 sq ft John M. Olin Graduate Library, designed by Warner, Burns, Toan & Lunde.[6] The last addition to the Arts Quad is the Carl Kroch Library, which opened on August 24, 1992. The building is underground between Stimson, Olin Library and Goldwin Smith Halls.[7]
To the west of White Hall is the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art (1973) designed by I.M. Pei.
Minor support buildings include Rand Hall (1911)[8] and the Foundry (1883).[9]
The landscaping of the Arts Quad is mostly informal and was historically dominated by towering elm trees. After Dutch elm disease swept the campus, a new row of Zelcova trees was planted in the 1970s along the sidewalk on the eastern edge of the quad. These trees were selected for their vase shape, but unfortunately grow much slower than the elms which they replaced. The sidewalk on the northern edge is also significant because I.M. Pei aligned window slots in the Art Museum on the sidewalk's axis to preserve a view of West Hill through the museum.
[edit] Engineering Quadrangle
The Engineering Quad, was designed in the 1940s and 1950s on a site at the south end of the central campus previously occupied by the Old Armory and faculty housing, using a master plan developed by the Perkins and Will firm. It has undergone major changes in recent years, particularly with the completion of Duffield Hall. In 2004, relandscaping with a design inspired by Cascadilla Gorge was completed and its landmark sundial was restored to its rightful place on the quad (after having been stored in Upson Hall during the construction period) [10]. Also, modern and open collaborative working spaces were introduced with the construction of a large atrium connecting Duffield, which houses research and teaching facilities for nanoscale science and engineering, with Phillips and Upson (1956)[11] Halls. Connected to Upson Hall, away from the quad, are Grumman Hall (1957)[12] and Frank H.T. Rhodes Hall (1990)[13], which currently houses the Cornell Theory Center. On the southern end of the Quad, next to Upson and near Cascadilla Creek, are Kimball, Thurston[14] and Bard (1963)[15] Halls, all part of a single brick and concrete structure. Thurston is the home to the Theoretical and Applied Mathematics department, and Bard Hall the home of the Material Sciences department. Between Upson and Kimball stands Ward Hall (1963)[16], the soon to be closed down and former building for nuclear sciences. Next to Bard, and across the street from the Cornell Law School, stand Snee Hall (1984)[17] and Hollister Hall (1957)[18]. Carpenter Hall (1956)[19], containing the Engineering Library, stands next to Hollister on the northwestern corner. The edge of northern face of the quad, mostly open space, is lined with trees along Campus Road. Across Campus Road is F.W. Olin Hall (1941)[20] the home of the Chemical Engineering department.
[edit] Future Developments
With the receipt of a $25 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006, the college is looking to add a new William H. Gates building to house the Department of Computer Science, as well as portions of the Theory Center and Program of Computer Graphics. Furthermore, the university is also planning to build an information campus based on the Gates building, and other buildings potentially, depending on the receipt of additional grants. [21]
[edit] Agriculture Quadrangle
[edit] Main Ag Quadrangle
The Agriculture Quadrangle (Ag Quad) contains buildings which house many of the programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is a quadrangle east of the Arts Quad and west of the College of Veterinary Medicine. The oldest building still standing on the quad is Caldwell Hall, in the Colonial Revival style which opened in 1913.[22] The Plant Science Building opened in 1931 and Warren Hall, across from Plant Science, opened in the next year, The art deco style Mann Library on the eastern end of the quad, connecting Warren Hall on the north to the Plant Sciences Building on the south, opened in 1952.[23] Completed in 1990, Keith Kennedy and the "new" Roberts Halls, featuring an archway that connects the two halls, extend along the western face of the quad,[24] having replaced the original Roberts Hall (1906) and East Roberts Hall and Stone Hall. The Computing and Communications Center (formerly named Comstock Hall)[25] stands between Roberts and Caldwell Halls. The quad now opens toward the south with the Minns Garden between Roberts and Plant Science.
To the west of Roberts Hall is Bailey Hall (1912).[26] It is the largest auditorium on the campus.
The most recent addition has been a 105,372 sq ft expansion of Mann Library to the northeast, designed by Lee Timchula and opened in 2000.[27]
[edit] Human Ecology
Since 1933, the home economics/human ecology programs have been housed in Martha Van Renssalaer Hall (MVR), a 171,648 sq ft Georgian Revival style brick building designed by William Haugaard located between the Ag Quad and Beebe Lake.[28] In 1968, a dramatic, cantilevered wing designed by Ulrich Franzen was added to the North side of MVR overlooking Beebe Lake. However, the building was declared structurally unsafe in 2001 and abandoned.[29] In the meantime, a west wing was built to house the human nutrition labs as a link between the main MVR and the north wing, but it opened in 2002, after the north wing was closed.[30] The North wing was demolished in 2006, and construction began in 2008 to replace it with an 88,228 square foot teaching and laboratory building atop a 290 car parking garage. The lead architect is Darko Hreljanovic, a 1977 graduate of Cornell's architecture college. The new building will open in 2012.[31]
[edit] Eastern Buildings
To the east of the Plant Science Building are:
- Emerson Hall (1968)
- Bradfield Hall (agronomy) (1968)[32]
- Fernow Hall (1915)[33]
- The Poultry Houses
- Bruckner Lab
- Rice Hall (1912)[34]
- Beebe Hall
- The Insectary Complex
- The Kenneth Post Greenhouses
- Dimock Lab
- Federal Nutrition Lab (and greenhouses).
Just south of the Plant Sciences Building is the Minns Garden.
[edit] South of Tower Road
Across Tower Road on the south side at the east end of Alumni Fields are:
- Stocking Hall with the Dairy Bar
- Wing Hall (Wing Hall is statutory and owned by NY State, but its 1965 wing is endowed and owned by Cornell)[35]
- Riley-Robb Hall (agricultural engineering)
- Morrison Hall (1961)[36]
- Nematode Lab (1937)[37]
[edit] Alumni Fields, Athletics and Biology Buildings
A important factor in the amount of the open space on the central campus was the gift in 1902 of the alumni fields, which the Alumni leveled to provide athletic playing areas in exchange for a promise that it would remain forever open for that purpose. In 1910, the expansion of the Ag School south of Tower Road caused the Trustees and the Alumni Field Committee to agree to exchange the east end of the fields (the site of Stocking Hall) for the area which now includes Schoellkopf Field and Hoy Field.[38]
Athletic buildings constructed in this area include: Schoellkopf Field (with Schoellkopf Memorial Hall, the Crescent (1914 with an expansion in 1923),[39] and Paul Schoellkopf House for Visiting Teams), Grumman Squash Courts, Teagle Hall, Lynah Hockey Rink, Bacon Cage (since demolished), Bartels Hall, and the Friedman Wrestling Center. In 1960s, the Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory was constructed in a tunnel 15 meters underneath Upper Alumni Fields.[40]
In the 1970s, a new quadrangle was planned for Lower Alumni Field to house the since dissolved Division of Biological Sciences. Three buildings were built on that playing field: the "new" Comstock Hall, Seeley G. Mudd Hall - Dale R. Corson Hall and the Biotechnology Building.
A $140 million Life Sciences Technology Building, designed by Richard Meier, is under construction on the northwest corner of Upper Alumni Field.[41][42]
[edit] Veterinary Medicine
The enabling legislation creating the college also provided funds for a veterinary building at Cornell. The building opened in the fall of 1896, and is now a portion of Ives Hall. A new veterinary complex for Cornell and the college was created in 1957 at the east end of Tower Road. The main building is named Schurman Hall. Today, this complex is the largest veterinary complex in higher education in the United States.
In 1974, a 125,460 sq ft Vet Research Tower (originally called the "Multicategorical Research Tower") was added with special central facilities to house animals for lab experiments. Its high rise design by Ulrich Franzen balances Bradfield Hall.[43]
In 1976, a Veterinary Diagnostic Lab was added to provide support for vetinarians throughout New York State. It was designed by Levatich, Miller & Hoffman.[44] In 1993, a Primary Vet Teaching wing was added.[45] In 1997, a 321,395 sq ft Vet Hospital was added along the south side of the complex.[46]
Adjacent to Schurman Hall is the W. C. Muenscher Poisonous Plant Garden, used by veterinary students to learn about plants poisonous to livestock.[47] For many years, the garden included Cannabis plants.
In 1978, a new 116,854 sq ft building designed by Ulrich Franzen was built next to the Cornell Veterinary School to house the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research.[48]
[edit] Science Buildings
The need for additional science labs caused the Arts College to expand to the east side of East Avenue, displacing faculty housing. Science buildings, in order of construction, are:
- Rockefeller Hall (1904 & 1980, physics) - red brick classroom building designed by Carrère and Hastings.[49]
- Baker Lab (1921, chemistry) - stone building designed by Gibb & Day[50]
- Savage Hall (1948, nutrition) - designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill[51]
- Floyd R. Newman Lab (1947, physics) - contained Cornell's first particle accelerator prior to Wilson Lab.[52]
- Clark Hall (1965, material science and physical science library) - designed by Warner, Toan & Lunde[53]
- Spencer T. Olin Chemistry Research Lab (1967)
- Space Sciences Building (1967, astronomy)[54]
- Kinzelberg Hall (1988, nutrition) designed by King & King.
A new $85 million joint chemistry-physics building is currently under construction in the courtyard between Baker Lab and Rockefeller Hall and is expected to be completed in the Fall of 2010.[55]
Also located in this area are Andrew Dickson White's house, the only remaining faculty residence, now housing the Society for the Humanities, and the Big Red Barn, which was White's horse barn.
Malott Hall, which was built to house the Business School, now houses the Mathematics Department. Across Forest Home Drive and downhill from these buildings, are the Hydraulics Lab, the Weinhold Chilled Water Plant, and the Toboggan Lodge (which housed toboggan and ice skating but now serves as a University Auditors office.)[56]
[edit] Central Buildings
The area between the Arts Quad and the Engineering Quad include a number of major buildings (listed from west to east): Willard Straight Hall, Gannett Health Services, Barnes Hall, the underground Cornell Campus Store designed by Earl Flansburgh, Sage Chapel, Sage Hall (which was originally a women's dormitory and is now home to the Business School), Day Hall (the administration building), Uris Hall (social sciences), Statler Hall (which houses the Hotel School), Irving Ives Hall (which houses the ILR School), and Barton Hall.
The open spaces in the area are enhanced by the "Wee Stinky Glen" (a creek and ravine), Ho Plaza on a portion of what was Central Avenue, George Peter Plaza (between Statler and Uris Halls), the Ruth Uris Garden, the Livingston Farrand Garden, and the Mary Rockwell Azalea Garden.
On the southwest corner of Campus Road and Central Avenue are Anabel Taylor Hall (1953, the home of the Cornell United Religious Works)[57] and Myron Taylor Hall (1932, the home of the Law School).[58] They form a harmonious quadrangle in the Collegiate Gothic style.
[edit] Parking and Traffic
Historically, students lived off campus and were expected to walk to campus, and faculty housing was available on the campus, so parking was not a major issue. A trolley line from downtown crossed the campus to provide public transportation. Later, a statute gave Cornell the power to regulate parking and traffic on its campus.[59]
The general trend has been to preserve the central campus as a pedestrian space, and parking lots have been eliminated and used as sites for new buildings. In 1969, daytime traffic across the central campus was restricted to holders of special staff parking permits. A campus bus system shuttled commuters to peripheral "A" and "B" parking lots, with the cost of the parking permits covering the operating cost of the bus system.
Subsequently, the western end of Tower Road was permanently closed to all traffic as was Central Avenue, which was developed into Ho Plaza.
The future of Cornell's transportation needs is currently undergoing a generic environmental impact study.[60]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ http://campaign.cornell.edu/case.cfm A local landmark and Cornell icon since 1891, McGraw Tower houses the 21 bells that constitute the Cornell chimes. Student chimesmasters play three concerts daily during the academic year and a reduced schedule during the summer and semester breaks, making Cornell's set one of the most frequently played chimes in the world. (It also is one of the largest.) Retrieved 9-13-2007
- ^ http://www.ci.ithaca.ny.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={0374E3DD-2B1E-49D3-AA16-ECA42FEF728F} Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ 2008-LINCOLN HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2011-STIMSON HALL - Facility Information
- ^ http://www.cornell.edu/search/index.cfm?tab=facts&q=&id=541 Retrieved 2007-09-14.
- ^ 2047-OLIN LIBRARY - Facility Information
- ^ http://dspace-local.library.cornell.edu/web_archive/explore.cornell.edu/scene5d6a.html?scene=Wason%20Collection&stop=WC%20-%20Tour%20Kroch Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ 2017-RAND HALL - Facility Information
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=2015 Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ Duffield Hall, landscaping project to give Engineering Quad new look. Cornell University. Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
- ^ 2045-UPSON HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2043-GRUMMAN HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2051-FRANK H T RHODES HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2037-KIMBALL / THURSTON COMPLEX - Facility Information
- ^ 2070-BARD HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2037-KIMBALL / THURSTON COMPLEX - Facility Information
- ^ 2049-SNEE HALL GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE - Facility Information
- ^ 2046-HOLLISTER HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2042-CARPENTER HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2024-OLIN HALL - Facility Information
- ^ Cornell gets $25 million grant to build William H. Gates Hall, launching new home for computing and information science. Cornell Chronicle Online. Retrieved on 2006-07-06.
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=1025 Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=1027 (states a 1953 completion date) Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ 1080-KENNEDY & ROBERTS COMPLEX - Facility Information
- ^ The "old" Comstock Hall was built by New York State for the Entimology Department, but was sold to Cornell so that mainframe computers could be relocated from Langmuir Laboratory.
- ^ 1024-BAILEY HALL - Facility Information
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=1027A Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=1015A Retrieved 2006-09-12.
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=1015N Retrieved 2007-09-12.
- ^ 1015W-M VAN RENSSELAER WEST - Facility Information
- ^ http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb08/HumEc.building.sl.html Retrieved 2008-02-07.
- ^ 1028B-BRADFIELD HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 1029-FERNOW HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 1040-RICE HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 1042-WING HALL COMPLEX - Facility Information
- ^ 1064-MORRISON HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 1035-FEDERAL NEMATODE LAB & GRNHSE - Facility Information
- ^ http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/3528/28/013_13.pdf Cornell Alumni News 1910-12-21 p. 146
- ^ 2603B-SCHOELLKOPF CRESCENT - Facility Information
- ^ http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/public/outreach/Tours/Revised%20Web%20Page/htftour.html Retrieved 2007-09-09.
- ^ http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/04/5.20.04/life_sci_bldg_plan.html Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ http://www.lifesciences.cornell.edu/otherSources/marchNews/nlsiBuilding.html Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=1140 Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ^ 1148-DIAGNOSTIC LAB - Facility Information
- ^ 1163-VET EDUCATION CENTER - Facility Information
- ^ http://www.fs.cornell.edu/fs/facinfo/fs_facilInfo.cfm?facil_cd=1164 Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ^ W. C. Muenscher Poisonous Plants Garden
- ^ 1076-BOYCE THOMPSON INSTITUTE - Facility Information
- ^ 2014-ROCKEFELLER HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2019-BAKER LABORATORY - Facility Information
- ^ 2032-SAVAGE HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2029-NEWMAN, FLOYD D. LABORATORY - Facility Information
- ^ 2082-CLARK HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2084-SPACE SCIENCES BUILDING - CRSR - Facility Information
- ^ http://pressoffice.cornell.edu/March06/PhysicalSciences.shtml Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=955425600 Retrieved 2007-09-10.
- ^ 2038-ANABEL TAYLOR HALL - Facility Information
- ^ 2038-ANABEL TAYLOR HALL - Facility Information
- ^ N.Y.S. Education Law § 5708.
- ^ http://www.tgeisproject.org/ Retrieved 2007-09-10.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
