Visions in Brick and Stone: Planning and Building for the Next Century at Yale

The Yale School of Architecture will host a program to explore the University’s immediate and long-term plans for its physical facilities, April 9, 10 and 11. Friday’s session will take place in the auditorium of the Law School, 127 Wall St. Saturday and Sunday sessions will be held in Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High St.

The program, called “Yale Constructs: Planning and Building for the University’s Fourth Century,” will focus on three themes – renovation of Yale’s architectural heritage, long-range planning and new construction.

Journalists are invited to cover the event. Contact Diane Michonski at the School of Architecture for information, (203) 432-2889.

“The University, with its many and varied projects, is a living laboratory of contemporary architecture,” says Robert A.M. Stern, dean of the School of Architecture. “ ‘Yale Constructs’ will provide us with an extraordinary opportunity to see through the eyes of practitioners how a host of different real world design challenges are being met, both in new construction and in bringing older buildings into the next century. We will also have a chance to consider the direction Yale plans to take in the years ahead and learn of new initiatives between the University and the City of New Haven.”

Participating speakers from Yale include Stern; Vincent Scully, Sterling Professor Emeritus of the History of Art; Bruce Alexander, vice president and director of the Office of New Haven and State Affairs; and University President Richard C. Levin.

Architects will present the projects for which their firms are responsible. These include Cesar Pelli (Cesar Pelli & Associates), on the Lanman Center at Payne Whitney Gymnasium; Robert Venturi (Venturi Scott Brown & Associates, Inc.), on the Clinical Research Building; Mark Simon (Centerbrook Architects), on the Child Study Center; and Deborah Berke (Deborah Berke Architects), on the School of Art. Other new construction to be presented includes the New Residence Hall (Herbert S. Newman & Partners, P.C.), the Environmental Science Facility (David M. Schwarz Architectural Services, Inc.), and the Gilder Boat House (Turner Brooks Architects).

Renewal projects, both recently completed and ongoing, include the Sterling Law Buildings, Sterling Memorial Library, Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, Rose Alumni House addition, Linsly-Chittenden Hall, and the Berkeley, Branford and Saybrook residential colleges. Alexander Cooper will present the University’s new Campus Framework Plan, and James Stewart Polshek will review the Arts Area Plan, involving existing and new facilities in the schools of architecture, art and drama, as well as the Yale University Art Gallery.

The program will open on Friday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m., with a session titled “A Worthy Heritage,” introduced by Stern, at which Scully will present an overview of “The Architecture of Yale University.”

Saturday morning’s session will focus on “Renewing an Architectural Heritage,” and will begin with a talk by Catherine Lynn, “Lost Yale,” at 9:15 a.m. The balance of the morning will explore additions and renovations to some of Yale’s existing facilities.

The Saturday afternoon session, beginning at 2 p.m., will look at “Planning for the Future.” Topics will include the overall campus framework, landscaping issues, changes proposed for Science Hill and the York-Chapel street arts complex, and Yale’s relationship to New Haven.

Sunday, April 11, will feature a morning campus tour of work in progress. Sunday afternoon will concentrate on “New Initiatives” – some completed, some still in the design stage.