1960s was the acquisition of two buildings that housed the former Adelphi Academy. Both are large, prominently gabled Romanesque Revival structures, which ultimately became Higgins Hall, home to Pratt’s School of Architecture. The 1970s brought to Pratt the ARC, designed by Ezra Ehrenkrantz and Daniel Tully. The 1980s at Pratt belonged to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which contributed two residence halls, Leo J. Pantas Hall and Cannoneer Court. Both employ a light-handed postmodernist style in brick and were meant to be more “contextual” than the campus additions of the 1950s and 1970s. The boldly scaled Vincent J. Stabile Hall design by Pasanella, Klein, Stolzman, Berg, Architects was built in 1999, and recalls the work of the modern master Louis Kahn. That same year, the Institute acquired a stately 1896 Renaissance Revival– style building on West 14th Street in Manhattan designed by Brunner & Tryon—stylistically akin to Howells & Stokes’s buildings on the Brooklyn campus. The new MillenniuM Higgins Hall suffered a disastrous fire in 1996, but redemption came in 2005 when Pratt opened a new central section to replace what had been damaged. Unlike the 1980s, when work at Pratt sought to blend in with the older campus, designer Steven Holl felt the right solution at Higgins Hall was something dramatically different. Described by one commentator as a “phosphorescent light box,” Holl’s “intervention” (an architectural term) brought to Pratt its most dazzling piece of au courant design and was the architect’s first work in New York City, though his world-renowned practice had been based in the city for 25 years. A similar intervention occurred a year later when Hanrahan Meyers Architects, the firm of Thomas Hanrahan, dean of Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture, created the Juliana Curran Terian Design Center by creating an impressive 6,000-square-foot centerpiece between the Pratt Studios building and Steuben Hall, two former factories on DeKalb Avenue. Facing into the campus, the boldly cantilevered stainless steel framed box “opens up the entry pavilion to the quadrangle visually, especially at night, like a large, deep-set window,” according to Hanrahan. The latest addition to the Brooklyn campus came in 2010 with Myrtle Hall, a 120,000-square-foot structure designed by WASA/Studio A. It is Pratt’s first “green building” (it received LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Buildings Council) and represents the Institute’s commitment to sustainability education and practice.
a s p e c Ta c u l a r u r b a n l a n d s c a p e While the Institute’s magnificent buildings convey a fascinating history, Pratt’s campus grounds have only reached their full glory over the last 20 years. Current president Thomas F. Schutte’s efforts to improve the grounds, which included turning the 25-acre campus into the Pratt Sculpture Park and rejuvenating the campus Rose Garden, have awed local residents and visitors in recent years. Significant campus improvement efforts, made possible by alumni donors, including Bruce M. Newman (B.F.A. Interior Design ’53) and Hiroko Nakamoto, have created grand walkways and entrances, attractive outdoor seating areas, and stunning works of landscape architecture that give clear definition to a campus environment that city streets and elevated trains once traversed. It is this park-like urban environment, combined with a harmonizing layout of traditional and contemporary buildings, that have created a unique urban campus that continues to draw and inspire students from around the world. The most recent additions and improvements demonstrate a continued commitment to a balance between addressing primary educational needs and deep respect for the historic environment as well as leadership through innovative design. With Pratt now poised for the next phase of its physical evolution, the Institute will surely continue to build upon this solid foundation established through successive generations who have collectively developed one of the nation’s most admired campuses. P
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About the illustrAtor: brett Affrunti (b.F.A. Communications Design '08) is an illustrator and artist based in brooklyn. since graduating from Pratt institute, he has worked for clients including travel + leisure, the New York times, and the Washington Post. Affrunti enjoys drawing on location as he did for these drawings of Pratt institute. "being on campus again reminded me of how much history and architectural beauty is all over Pratt and its surrounding neighborhood," he said.
125 anniversary pr attfolio
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