Last week I ventured up to New Haven to see "Pedagogy and Place: Celebrating 100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale", on display December 3, 2015 to May 7, 2016 at the Yale School of Architecture. The exhibition, curated by outgoing Dean Robert A.M. Stern with Jimmy "Life Without Buildings" Stamp, is made up of two halves: "100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale" and "The Architecture of Architecture Schools," with the first focusing on Yale School of Architecture and the latter emphasizing the relationship between architectural education and the places where it takes place, both at Yale and more than thirty other schools of architecture around the world. Over at World-Architects I wrote mainly about the "100 Years of Architecture Education at Yale" half, so here I'll ramble on a little bit about the latter, particularly Paul Rudolph's 1963 building, where the exhibition is located.
In hindsight, having studio in a Kahn building must have been great, but what's missing in the expansive, pancake-flat floors are the diagonal views and central space that are so important in Rudolph's building. Stern recounted how former chairmen and faculty would have loud arguments up, down and across the spaces, thereby involving the students (whether they liked it or not) in the verbal exchange of ideas. As well, the central space is relatively famous for the crits held there, which enable other students to watch and listen from...