University of Massachusetts, Amherst by Marla R. Miller - Princeton

THE CAMPUS GUIDE

University of Massachusetts Amherst

an architectural tour by

Marla R. Miller and Max Page foreword by kumble r. subbaswamy Copyrighted Material.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Copyrighted Material.

Copyrighted Material.

THE CAMPUS GUIDE

University of Massachusetts Amherst an architectural tour by

Marla R. Miller and Max Page foreword by

Kumble R. Subbaswamy

P R I NCETO N A RCHI TECTU RA L P R ESS

new york

Copyrighted Material.

Contents

Published by

Princeton Architectural Press 37 East Seventh Street

New York, New York 10003 Visit our website at www.papress.com.

How to Use This Guide

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© 2013 Princeton Architectural Press

Foreword

All rights reserved

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Printed and bound in China

16 15 14 13 4 3 2 1 First edition

Prefaces

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No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without

Introduction

written permission from the publisher, except in the context of reviews.

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Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright.

Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions.

Series Editor: Jan Hartman

Walk One: Central Campus

PAPress Editor: Dan Simon

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Layout: Benjamin English

Walk Two: North Pleasant Street

Mapmaker: Tom Gastel

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Special thanks to: Sara Bader, Janet Behning, Nicola Bednarek Brower,

Walk Three: Orchard Hill

Fannie Bushin, Megan Carey, Carina Cha, Andrea Chlad, Russell

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Fernandez, Will Foster, Jan Haux, Diane Levinson, Jennifer Lippert,

Walk Four: Southwest Campus & Commonwealth Avenue

Jacob Moore, Gina Morrow, Katharine Myers, Margaret Rogalski,

132

Elana Schlenker, Sara Stemen, Andrew Stepanian, Paul Wagner, and Joseph Weston of Princeton Architectural Press

Walk Five: North Campus

—Kevin C. Lippert, publisher

160

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

University of Massachusetts Amherst: an architectural tour / by Marla R. Miller and Max Page; foreword by Kumble R. Subbaswamy. — 1st ed.

Acknowledgments

p. cm. — (The campus guide)

181

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61689-112-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)

Bibliography

1. University of Massachusetts Amherst—Buildings. 2. University of

182

Massachusetts Amherst—History. I. Title.

Index

LD3234.M234M55 2013 378.744’23—dc23

187

2012019594

Copyrighted Material.

Foreword

We hope this book will be used by visitors, alumni, staff, faculty, and students who are eager to learn more about the three centuries of architecture and landscapes that constitute the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The story of this 150-year-old public university is written into the buildings and grounds of the campus.

The guide opens with an introduction that lays out the history of the university with particular attention to the series of landmark campus plans, beginning with the vision submitted by none other than celebrated landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (and promptly set aside by the school’s founders). We then offer five Walks that touch on every part of the campus, encompassing dozens of buildings, landscapes, artworks, and memorials. Each Walk begins with a brief overview of the central themes and events that have shaped that section of campus, and each building is illustrated and discussed, with emphasis given to how the building reflects the evolving history of this public university. We take special pride in focusing on the works of some of the most important twentieth-century architects who have built or made plans for UMass: Kevin Roche; Edward Durrell Stone; Marcel Breuer; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; and Sasaki Associates. Many of the Walks begin and /or end at the university’s traditional gathering spaces—the University Club, the Student Union, the Lincoln Campus Center, the Gunness Engineering Student Center, and the Robsham Visitor’s Center—inviting users on the ground in Amherst to pause to enjoy those spaces at more leisure. A beautiful watercolor map identifies the sites on each Walk.

Whether you live or work here, have attended the university, or are contemplating doing so, we hope that you will use this guide not only to explore the distinctive architectural legacy of the campus, but also to discover our unique history.

Lederle Graduate Research Building, the W. E. B. Du Bois Library, the Southwest Residential Area: If you approach our campus from the west, these towers boldly announce one’s arrival at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

If you come in the afternoon, when the light is just right, you are treated to the play of the sun and shadows off these majestic buildings. For the truly fortunate, the light show is accompanied by the sounds of the Minuteman Marching Band as they practice on a crisp autumn afternoon next to the Mullins Center. And if you are familiar with the university as a student, alumnus, or employee, it is at that moment that you know that you are home.

The architecture of our campus does more than alert those who approach that they have arrived at UMass Amherst—although it does this dramatically well. It also tells us that ours is a particular and special kind of university, one devoted to both excellence and access. Lederle, after all, houses scientists committed to excellence in research, and indeed it is named for the person, President John Lederle, most associated with the promotion of research and discovery at UMass Amherst. The W. E. B. Du Bois Library, an impressive repository of knowledge and site of student interaction, pays homage to a native son who fought for racial equality and justice. Finally, the towers of the Southwest Residential Area, as if to make a point both geographically and metaphorically, announce our mission to educate and house not just a narrow few, but all the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Together these three complexes, perhaps more than any other buildings on campus, demonstrate who we are and what we do.

Two building booms mark our history over the last seventy or so years. The first accompanied the democratization and expansion of public higher education

VI S I TO R S TO U M ASS A R E MO R E T H A N WE LC O ME:

Please visit www.umass.edu to learn more about the university.

For campus tours, contact or visit the Robsham Memorial Center for Visitors: 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Amherst, ma 01003; phone: 413-545-0306.

The Fine Arts Center at the top of Haigis Mall today

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9 H O W TO U S E T H I S G U I D E / F O R E W O R D

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