PAUL RUDOLPH.ppt

PAUL RUDOLPH: THE LATE-MODERNIST

(1918-1997)

He was born in Elkton, Kentucky, New York, in 1918 the son of a southern Methodist minister.

It was significant that he only ever contemplated completing his studies with the great teachers of his time. In the 1940s the choices for an advanced architectural education were either with Walter Gropius at Harvard, Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesen or Mies Van der Rohe at Chicago.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Rudolph earned his bachelor's degree in architecture at Auburn University (then known as Alabama Polytechnic Institute) in 1940 and then moved on to The Harvard Graduate school of design to study with Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius.

After three years, he left to serve in the Navy for another three years, returning to Harvard to receive his master's in 1947.

He moved to Sarasota, Florida and partnered with Ralph Twitchell for four years until he started his own practice in 1951

Rudolph died in 1997 at the age of seventy-eight in New York from peritoneal mesothelioma, a cancer that almost always originates from exposure to asbestos.

PHILOSOPHY, IDEAS AND STYLEPaul Rudolph was not a complex intellectual.  He preferred to let his drawings and buildings speak for themselves . To him the visual satisfaction of a design was far more important than a self-justifying intellectual debate.

During a period when architectural theorists were developing their own complicated language, Rudolph described his design priorities in a refreshingly simple manner.  He was easy to understand and was always trying to improve the quality and indeed beauty of architecture.

He wrote very little considering he was an architectural teacher but instead his production of drawings and building was prodigious. Leaving other's to analyze his buildings, he seemed totally consumed by a burning desire to produce major works of architecture.

In his designs, Rudolph synthesizes the Modernist ideas of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis I. Kahn. He uses sweeping monolithic forms and intricate interior spaces to create a powerful sculptural quality.

YALE SCHOOL OF ART & ARCHITECTURE

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

The dramatic entrance to the building is up a narrow flight of steps that penetrate deeply into the mass of the main volume, between it and the main vertical circulation tower.

 The strong vertical striations of the corduroy-textured surfaces are obtained by pouring concrete into vertically-ribbed wood forms, that are then stripped away, and concrete edges hand-hammered to expose the aggregate concrete.

The Art and Architecture building in The Yale University was built during 1959-1963 in New Haven , Connecticut in New York. It is a rugged cuboid concrete structure incorporating Modern style of Architecture.

This has become Rudolph's favorite treatment for exposed concrete surfaces, because, apart from being an interesting surface, it controls staining and minimizes the effect of discoloration inherent in concrete.

Thirty-seven changes of level accommodate functional and circulation areas, and since walls are de-emphasized these levels are defined principally by floor and ceiling planes.

Internally the building is organized around a central core space defined by four large concrete slab columns that, similar to the external towers, are hollow to accommodate mechanical services.

Rudolph, like [Louis I. Kahn], is concerned with the method and drama of natural lighting. This has clearly been an important factor in the design of the building, as it contributes to the changing character and psychological implication of space.

PLAN AT SUNKEN LEVEL

On two sunken levels, sculpture and basic design studios encircle a central auditorium, the approach to which is rather torturous and obscure.

At street level, the library occupies a single story side.

Above this, with the possibility of looking down into the reading area, is a two-story central exhibition hall, with administrative offices on its mezzanine, and a central, sunken jury pit.

Starting at the fourth level is the most dramatic space: an architectural zone on five levels, each connected by a few steps, an element in yet a part of the greater space, above which run two parallel mezzanines spanned by a channel- shaped bridge.

SECTION

Between the four central piers two skylights rise as giant clerestories, intensifying natural light in the center of the space that receives it on all four sides through peripheral glazing.

Painting and graphic art studios are on the top two levels, with an open terrace for sketching. Finally, there is a penthouse apartment for guest critics, that also has its own terrace.

Rudolph took over the helm of the Yale School of Architecture as its dean in 1958, shortly after designing the Yale Art and Architecture Building. That building often is considered his masterpiece. He stayed on at Yale for six years until he returned to private practice.

W.R HEALY HOUSE(1948-1949)

Paul Rudolph partnered with Ralph Twitchell for four years until he started his own practice in 1951 in Sarasota , Florida. During these years,he designed many important landmarks like W.R Healy house.

The house is 735 sq ft. with shallow hanging catenary roof made of plastic sheet.

The plan is rectangular, with a porch and a balcony on the river side. The roof is interesting: a simple catenary roof spanning 22 feet was developed, using flat steel bars at 12 inch centre, spanning between the more normal post and beam construction of the flanking sides.

A sprayed plastic finish was used to complete the roof and steel tension straps employed to tie it in.

As designed by the architect, the house should have been constructed as a single volume. But four separate spaces are provided under the concave ceiling.

The roof was concave, in order to allow rainwater to drain off. In addition, Rudolph used jalousie windows, which enabled the characteristic breezes to and from Sarasota Bay to flow into the house.

Other Sarasota landmarks by Rudolph include the Sarasota County Riverview High School, built in 1957 as his first large scale project. Currently, it is slated for demolition despite international criticism and a great deal of controversy in Sarasota

Riverview High School is a fantastic prototype of what today we call green architecture,experimenting with sun screens and cross-ventilation.

Paul Rudolph's Florida houses attracted attention in the architectural community and he started receiving commissions for larger works such as The Jewett Art Center at Wellesley College, The Milan Residence.

 Rudolph used concrete blocks to construct this two-storied home for the Milan family. These large blocks provide shade for the windows, allowing the Florida home to be easily cooled.

Riverview high school

Jewett art centre

In 1958, Rudolph was commissioned to create a master plan for Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.

He later designed the Government Service Center in Boston, First Church in Boston, the main campus of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

University of massachusetts, library

The Lippo Centre, 1987, by Paul Rudolph, a landmark building in Hong Kong.

Jakarta, Wisma Dharmala Sakti

The Concourse office tower, Singapore.

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