Photo Credit | Garrett Crowell
New College Bates, Rothenberg, and Johnson Residence Halls (Pei Halls) Architect: I.M. Pei with Bert Brosmith Year: 1965 Location: Sarasota The Bates, Rothenberg & Johnson Residence Halls, known as the Pei Halls, at the New College of Florida are the only designs by I.M. Pei in the state and are a rare example of Brutalism from this era in Sarasota. Pei, an internationally-renowned architect, arrived in the U.S. in 1935 from China. He studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The New College appointed Pei as the architect for the new $15-million campus in 1963. Sarasota architect, Bert Brosmith, served as the local consultant for Pei’s New York-headquartered firm. In Florida, Pei imported his individual approach of the Brutalist style to give aesthetic form to the new school. He created a heavy concrete frame for his buildings (in contrast to the transparency and lightness of the Sarasota School architects), designing the dorms in tight clusters of geometrically arranged groups. Built in 1965, the Pei Halls
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are composed of three courts or pavilions designed for student living, each centered around a lightly landscaped “Palm Court� (planted with rows of tall palms) focusing traffic flow in an effort to bring students together. Small ponds with fountains in the courtyard have been replaced by gardens. In total, the courts can accommodate 250 students in the spacious rooms, with each room having its own private bathroom. Balconies with sliding glass doors brought in light and air--and rain according to student residents. Financial problems caused Pei to resign from the New College project in 1967. The buildings were renovated in 2014.