PAUL RUDOLPH WAS BORN ON 28th OCTOBER AT ELKTON, KENTUCKY IN 1918.

HE STUDIED AT THE ALABAMA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE.HE FURTHER STUDIED UNDER WALTER GROPIUS AT HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL.

HE DEVIATED FROM GROPIUS’ THEORY OF GROUP WORK AND THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING IN ARCHITECTURE.

HIS PHILOSOPHY IS “URBAN PLANNING IS THE PREROGATIVE OF ARCHITECTS”.

HE IS THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL,INVENTIVE AND VERSATILE OF THE AMERICAN ARCHITECTS THAT AROSE AFTER THE WAR.

PAUL RUDOLPH

SARASOTA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL,1958-1959SARASOTA, FLORIDA

THE SCHOOL CREATES AN IMPRESSION OF BEING FAR MORE SUBSTANTIAL AND ENCLOSED.

SLIM,WHITE-PAINTED CONCRETE COLUMNS TERMINATE IN DOWNSTAND BEAMS WHICH ALSO SERVE AS MECHANICAL SERVICING DUCTS.

RUDOLPH HIMSELF INTENDED THAT THE OVERALL APPEARANCE OF THE SCHOOL SHOULD REFLECT MORE ACCURATELY THE PRECISE REQUIREMENTS OF FLORIDA CLIMATE BY MEANS OF CAREFULLY ARRANGED SUNSHIELDS AND INTERNAL VENTILATION AND LIGHTIG APERTURE.

THE LINEAR NATURE OF THE BUILDING IS EXPRESSED MORE BY MEANS OF IT’S INFINITELY EXTENDABLE FORM THAN THROUGH THE OVERRIDING HORIZONTALS.

CLERESTOREY LIGHTING TO THE NTERNAL CORRIDORS

DETAIL OF SUSPENDED CONCRETE

BLUE CROSS-BLUE SHIELD BUILDING,1957-1960BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

THE FREE-STANDING OFFICE TOWERS EMPLOYS A MORE VERTICAL VERSION OF THE “Y- COLUMNS”.PART OF THE AVAILABLE SITE WAS TURNED OVER TO THE CITY AS PUBLIC SPACE AND FORECOURT IS USED BY NEIGHBOURING OFFICE WORKERS DURING LUNCH - HOURS.THE FORECOURT IS PUNCTUATED BY SKYLIGHTS GIVING DAYLIGHT TO THE BASEMENT CAFETERIA.THE BASEMENT CAFETERIA IS RESESRVED FOR USERS OF THE BUILDING ITSELF.

SECTION SHOWING EXCEPTIONALLY THIN FLOOR SLABS ACHIEVED BY USE OF VERTICAL DUCTING FOR SERVICES

GROUND PLAN SHOWING:

1.PUBLIC OPEN SPACE WITH SKYLIGHTS TO THE BASEMENT

2.FOYER

3.GOODS ENTRANCE

4.RECEPTION AREA

5.ENTRANCE HALL

6.SHOP UNITS

TWIN CONCRETE COLUMNS SPRING FROM THE ARMS OF THE Y-SHAPED SUPPORTS AT GROUND AND FIRST-FLOOR LEVEL.THESE TWIN COLUMNS CARRY AIR-CONDITIONING DUCTS, WHISLT THE APPARENT INTERMEDIATE COLUMNS ARE IN FACT SERVICING DUCTS ENTIRELY.THE RESULT IS A LACK OF STRUCTURAL CLARITYWHICH HAS BEEN HEAVILY CRITICIZED, BUT IT OFFERS A GAIN IN TERMS OF SERVICING BY MEANS OF ELIMINATION OF CROSS-DUCTS REDUCES THE EFFECTIVE DEPTH BETWEEN FLOOR AND CEILING.RUDOLPH, IN THIS WAY INCORPORATED TWO ADDITIONAL STOREYS WITHIN THE ORIGINAL HEIGHT LIMIT.

DETAIL SHOWING Y-SHAPED COLUMNS AND SINGLE DUCT-CARRYING COLUMNS, ALTERNATING WITH PAIRED STRUCTURAL COLUMNS

PARKING GARAGE FOR THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN, 1959-1963CONNECTICUT

THE TEMPLE STREET PARKING HAS CAPACITY FOR 1,500 CARS.IT IS 270 m LONG AND STRADDLES ONE STREET.

PAUL RUDOLPH INTENDED THE GARAGE TO BE EXTENDED TO ALMOST THREE TIMES IT’S PRESENT LENGTH.

THE ORIGINAL SCALE INVOLVED CROSSING ANOTHER STREET:OAK STREET – THE CHIEF FEEDER ROUTE INTO THE CONNECTICUT TURNPIKE LINKING NEW HAVEN AND NEW YORK.THUS THE ENTIRE CONCEPTION BY RUDOLPH WOULD HAVE FORMED A KIND OF ARCH PASSING OVER THE ENTRANCE TO THE METROPOLIS.

VIEW FROM THE FEEDER ROAD TO THE CONNECTICUT TURNPIKE.COMPARE THE SCALE OF THE OLDER BUILDINGS TO THE LEFT

EXPLODED DIAGRAM SHOWING SEPARATE RAMPED PARKING LEVELS

THE USE OF PA RKING STRUCTURES FOR SUCH A PURPOSE REFLECTED RUDOLPH’S BELIEF IN THE CAPACITY OF THE AUTOMOBILE, BY THE NATURE OF ITS MOBILITY, TO FASHION A NEW KIND OF URBAN FABRIC.

THE GARAGE ITSELF IS ON TWELVE SPLIT-PARKING LEVELS SUPPRORTED BY PAIRS OF ARCHED COLUMNS, IN A MANNER CURIOUSLY REMINISCENTOF THE REMAINS OF THE MEGASTRUCTURES OF ANCIENT ROME.

THE ROUGH-CAST, BOARD MARKED CONCRETE FINISH HELPS TO ENHANCE THIS EFFECT OF ANTIQUITY.

CLOSE UP OF TWIN CANTILEVERING SUPPORT COLUMNS

ENDO LABORATORIES,GARDEN CITY,1962-64LONG ISLAND,NEW YORK

THE BUILDING IS SITED ON A HILL, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF NEW YORK CITY, OFF THE MIDDLEBROOK PARKWAY.

THE ARCHITECT WAS OBLIGED TO INTEGRATE A NUMBER OF LABORATORY PROCESSES WHICH REQUIRED NOT ONLY HIGHLY SPECIALISED VOLUMES BUT ALSO SPECIFIC HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL RELATIONSHIPS IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE GRAVITATIONAL PRODUCTION LINES.

THESE PRODUCTION LINES HE USED AS A SIMPLE RECTANGULAR BASEFOR MORE COMPLEX GROUPINGS OF LABORATORIES, OFFICES, STAIRS, ELEVATORS AND COMMUNAL FACILITIES.

CAFETERIA AS SEEN FROM ROOF GARDEN, ONE OF THE FEW LATERALLY GLAZED BUILDINGS

THE ENTIRE NATURAL LIGHTING THROUGHOUT THE COMPLEX HAS BEEN ACHIEVED BY MEANS OF ROOF LIGHTS, AND AN EXTENSIVE ROOF GARDEN HAS ALSO BEEN INCORPORATED.

THE MAIN ENTRANCE HALL WITH STAIRCASE; INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FINISHES ARE IDENTICAL

STAIRWAY TO ROOF GARDEN ABOVE PRODUCTION AREAS

CRAWFORD MANOR (HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY), 1962-1966NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

THE UNUSUAL PRINCIPLE THAT OLD PEOPLE SHOULD LIVE IN TOWER BLOCKS, RUDOLPH CONCEIVED THIS PUBLICLY FINANCED COMPLEX AS AN ADJUNCT TO THE CONCEPT OF URBAN FABRIC WITH WHICH HE HAD EXPERIMAENTED IN THE TEMPLE STREET PARKING GARAGE.

THE SITE IS NEAR A FREEWAY- THE TURNPIPE CONNECTING BOSTON AND NEW YORK

PLANS OF GROUND FLOOR AND TYPICAL UPPER FLOOR

DETAIL OF BALCONIES ON THE EAST ELEVATION

THE PURPOSE OF THE TALL, COMPLEX BLOCK IS TO ACT AS A FORM OF GATEWAY TO THE CITY OF NEW HAVEN ITSELF.

DESPITE A FRESTRICTED BUDGET RUDOLPH WAS ABLE TO EMPLOY PURPOSE MADE CONCRETE BLOCKS, 40X20X20 CM, WITH VERTICAL GROOVES 5 CM DEEP, DESIGNED TO OBSCURE THE APPEARANCE OF THESE SMALL CONSTRUCTIONAL UNITS AND GIVE A MONOLITHIC IN-SITU APPEARANCE.

SOUTH ELEVATION

THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE BLOCK, SHOWING THE USE OF IDENTICAL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FINISHES

ART AND ARCHITECTURE BUILDING, YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT1958-1964

THE BUILDING ITSELF IS A BOLD COMPOSITION OF TOWERS ( HOUSING MECHANICAL SERVICES) CONNECTED BY BRIDGING SLABSAROUND WHAT ONCE WAS TO HAVE BEEN AN ENCLOSED COURT RISING THROUGH THE CENTRE.

THE VERTICALLY STRIATED CONCRETE RIBBING WHICH FORMS THE CHIEF EXTERNAL FINISH

PLAN OF GROUND FLOOR:

1.LIBRARIAN’S OFFICE

2.STUDY

3.LIBRARY

PAUL RUDOLPH

ON THE CONCEPTION RUDPOLPD WROTE, “EXTERNAL FORCES DICTATED THAT THIS BUILDING TURN THE CORNER AND RELATE TO THE MORDERN BUILDING OPPOSITE AS WELL AS SUGGEST THAT IT BELONGS TO YALE UNIVERSITY.

THE INTERNAL FORCES DEMANDED AN ENVIRONMENT SUITABLE FOR VARYING ACTIVITIES WHICH WILL BE GIVEN FORM AND COHERENCE BY THE DEFINED SPACES WITHIN. AS THE YEARS GO BY, IT IS HOPED OTHER INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES WILL TAKE PLACE WITHIN THE SPACES , BUT THE SPACE ITSELF WILL REMAIN.”

FUNTIONALLY THE NARROW STUDIO SPACES HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED, AS HAS THE INADEQUATE ATTENTION DEVOTED TO ACOUSTIC SEPARATION, LIGHT CONTROL AND PRIVACY.

PART OF DRAUGHTING STUDIO

SECTIONAL PERSPECTIVE