anonymous, $35 million donation to found a professional school for the study of public policy. Princeton University Consulting Architect Douglas Orr recommended that the Board of Trustees retain Minoru Yamasaki to design the building, which they did without hesitation or serious consideration of alternative designers.design brief: The original program included a library with reading space, a large-scale auditorium, several smaller auditorium spaces for instruction, classrooms, a café, faculty and staff offices, and student study carrels.building/construction:Corwin Hall, formerly Woodrow Wilson Hall, was relocated on steel rails in order to create space for Robertson at the prominent corner of Prospect Avenue and Washington Road. The initial construction of Robertson Hall, to which later modifications have added space, contained a considerable amount of teaching and study space below the paved patio surrounding the first-floor. The first three floors are clad in Travertine, as was the original plaza, while the fourth level, along with the fifty-eight pre-cast concrete columns, is finished with white quartz. completed situation: With the exception of an additional entry at the West side and a change in the materials used to pave the plaza, the current exterior of the building is substantially the same as it was when it was completed in 1966.original situation or character of site: The site is elevated relative to both of the roads that it fronts, located approximately at a crest in Washington Road.

alteration :Two exterior courtyards in the core of the fourth-level were enclosed to create additional office space. Excavation at the East side of the building yielded additional lower-level space for student study carrels.date(s): 1979-81circumstances/ reasons for change: The School’s program had expanded and more office and study space was required.effects of changes: persons/organisations involved: The University retained architects Short & Ford to complete the architectural design. Most of the work was technical in nature and there was little impact to Yamasaki’s original design.type of change: Addition and AlterationAdditional floor area was created within the original envelope as the library space, formerly a three-story reading area with balconied, open stacks surrounding the perimeter, was in-filled. The core, open space was in-filled and new millwork-covered interior partitions were installed to create space for new offices both in the center and at the perimeter of the first-, second-, and third-levels. All interior finishes, including doors, hardware, trim details and carpeting, were replaced, but the white marble on public floor areas was maintained. On the lower-level, additional classroom and office space with natural skylights was created along the Southern boundary of the building and a new lower-level entry, direct to the exterior, was carved into the West bank surrounding the building. The original Travertine with which the plaza and patios that surround the building had been paved was replaced with grey granite, though the paver patterns and shape were preserved in the new installation. The curved edges of the Plaza’s central pool were modified to be more rectangular, and stairs were constructed along all sides of the fountain to provide access for the occasional bather. date(s): 2001-2002circumstances/ reasons for change: The University had recently completed Wallace Hall to house additional offices for social scientists and to accommodate a new social sciences library. As a result, the original library in Robertson Hall was re-appropriated to accommodate new office spaces, while the lower level was again expanded to increase and improve teaching spaces. A comprehensive renovation was conducted.effects of changes: persons/organisations involved: Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects, LLC, and Quennell Rothschild & Partners, LLP

of whole site: The site is split relatively equally between Robertson Hall, to the South, and Scudder Plaza and its fountain to the North.of principal components: Robertson Hall is devoted to faculty offices, teaching spaces, and social and gathering spaces.of other elements: of surrounding areas: The plaza is often used for public assembly and pedestrians can often be found wading in the fountain on weather-appropriate days.

of whole site: Following the comprehensive renovation in 2001-2002 the site and building are in exceptional condition. of principal components: of other elements: The fountain was removed and restored during the renovation.of surrounding areas: comments: The University devotes a significant sum of money to the maintenance of its buildings and as a result the area around Robertson, all of which is University owned and / or affiliated, is well-maintained.

Sited on a naturally graded crown, Robertson Hall is a rectangular shaped building set on a pedestal-like base. The lower three levels of the building form the main body of the structure, while a cantilevered fourth floor is supported by fifty-eight columns that span the height of the first three-floors and connect the pedestal of the building to the underside of the overhung fourth-floor. The sculpted columns, which are a primary feature of the building’s exterior, taper inward as they rise and ultimately flair out at their uppermost portions so that they touch one another and create a repetitive pattern of arches. This Parthenon-like colonnade wraps the perimeter of the building, supporting a continuous arcade of tall, narrow rectangular windows that are rounded at top and bottom as if they have been punched out of a piece of sheet metal on a punch press. The top level of windows performs as an entablature for the entire building, providing a terminus for the columns and a counterpoint to the pedestal base. Behind the columns, the travertine exterior walls are punctured by vertical plate glass spandrels, creating a light-dark contrast similar, again, to that which might be revealed while approaching on a classical temple only in this case, the dark sections are formed by the inclusion of a modern material: glass. Just as the exterior reveals a core wrapped by a colonnade, the interior is also conceived as a central atrium space with auxiliary uses scattered around it, above it and below it. Indeed, the lobby slices through the rectangular volume, spans the entire height of the building, and is capped by a glass roof composed of a mosaic of triangular, frosted glass pieces mated at varying angles. This centralized space functions as an atrium with balconies from all levels open to the carpeted, informal gathering area at its center. The dominant space on the first-level is Dodds Auditorium, a three-story “bowl”-like space with curved desks rising upward and outward to provide stadium-like seating and clear lines of vision to speakers at the podium. Those portions of the second- and third-level that are not dedicated to open space above the auditorium and cafe are devoted to non-descript faculty and staff offices ringing the perimeter, with support staff and student offices at the core. The perimeter of the entire fourth floor is office space, while the central section is an open balcony ringed by full-height carved apertures that reference the exterior fenestration of the exterior windows on the fourth floor. The main public space on the below-grade level is now utilized as exhibition space for traveling art or photography shows, in addition to serving as circulation space for the four smaller “bowls” and miscellaneous classrooms that line its perimeter.

The building is sited near the geographical center of the Princeton University campus, and forms the center of the public policy program’s physical plant.visual relation: Robertson Hall is surrounded on three sides by buildings that are older, designed in more traditional architectural styles, and of very disparate sizes. To the North, Princeton’s Frick Laboratory is a substantial building in Collegiate Gothic style with a 1960s addition at its East end. the building borders Washington Road, to the West, but across this busy street is 1879 Hall, a brick building in the Collegiate Gothic style that forms a natural boundary between the traditional, main campus, Eastward, and the “expanded” campus that has naturally edged Westward; across Prospect Avenue, to the South, as well as immediately to the East, are residentially-scaled buildings in varying styles, including Collegiate Gothic and Tudor. To the immediate East are a 1980s Post Modern complex by Robert Venturi and the original Woodrow Wilson Hall, a 1951 building constructed of red brick and few apertures facing Robertson or Scudder Plaza.----Robertson Hall is connected via underground tunnel to Fisher-Bendheim Hall, a 1989 building designed by Robert Venturi, as well as Corwin Hall, a far more staid, brick modernist building from 1951, designed by S.F. Voorhees.

The building is generally most recognized for the sweeping character and elegance of its pre-cast concrete columns and the sculpted nature of the fourth-floor window frames and exterior wall. Each column was cast off-site in one piece and set in-place before the fourth-floor slab was poured. The columns and fourth-floor window arcade are finished with white quartz, while the first three levels of the building are cast-in-place concrete concealed by travertine. In April, 1966, the New Jersey Concrete Association recognized the building for its artistic application of structural concrete, in significant contrast to other brutalist buildings built contemporaneously, and in January, 1967, the American Concrete Institution featured the building on the cover of its inaugural journal.

Robertson Hall was envisioned as the headquarters for the study of public policy at the University. a melting pot for the political scientists, economists, historians, and sociologists who together would provide solutions to the world’s problems. The building’s circulation foments interactions among individuals from different disciplines. The design is decidedly “open:” White walls, clear-sighted seating, glass walls, white floors, glass ceilings, open library stacks; these are elements that foster an environment for cross-pollination of lofty thoughts from open minds.

At the time of its commissioning, this building was seen as a representation of optimism in public service. The building’s domineering and assertive presence within the campus fabric, as exhibited by its regal, white exterior, elevated position, expansive exterior plaza and tall, dynamic interior spaces, emit an ethos of grandeur and gravity. The Trustees’ selection of Yamasaki projected both the academic program’s progressive nature as well as for the university’s commitment to well-trained public servants to guide the future of the nation.

There are few specific references to Robertson Hall outside of Princeton’s Peyton Hall, designed by Yamasaki in the decade the followed Robertson’s completion. Nonetheless, plastic expressiveness of the exterior columns echoes the designs for public institutions made popular by Oscar Niemeyer’s work in Brasilia. Additionally, while there has not been a significant volume of critical review of Robertson Hall, the destruction of Pruitt-Igoe and the World Trade Center have brought new critical interest in Yamasaki.

Yamasaki’s novel representation of classical design tenets adds a sense of credibility to a building that was intended to house a new school. and not just a new school, but a new school for the study of government. Raymond Rhinehart comments, “Here is a classical assemblage of pedestal, column, and entablature.” This citation of temple architecture is furthered by the orientation of internal spaces around the atrium-cum-cella.

ARTICLES: \"Minutes of the Board of Trustees of the Robertson Foundation," conference call held on June 6, 2002, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. "Moving Woodrow Wilson Hall," Princeton Alumni Weekly, vol. LXIII, No. 29, June 7, 1963, p. 11-12. "Patterson, Gardener, "Plans for $35,000,000," Princeton Alumni Weekly, Vol. LXII, No. 1, September 22, 1961, pp. 2-5 "Princeton's New 'World' Statue Installed in Corwin Hall,'" Princeton Packet, July 28, 1965. "Robertson Hall," Princeton University Building Profile, accessed online at http://etcweb.princeton.edu/scripts/perry/bldgInfo.pl?id=1773. Correspondence from Douglas W. Orr to Minoru Yamasaki, May 17, 1962, Princeton University archives Correspondence from George Wintringer to dean Mathey, November 5, 1935, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Correspondence from George Wintringer to Mayers, Murray and Phiollip of New York, February 29, 1940, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Correspondence from S.F. Voorhees to Mr. S.G. Etherington, December 6, 1949, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Hechinger, Fred M., "Gift of 35 Million Goes to Princeton, " New York Times, August 6, 1961, p. 1. Howard Price, Joyce, "Princeton Faulted on Foundation Funds Use," The Washington Times, February 16, 2006, A6. Kennan, George F., "Kennan on Stevenson: An Antidote to Today's Hysteria," text of comments by George F. Kennan on November 14, 1968, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Barabara Kreuter to Ingrid Reed, May 18, 1981, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Douglas Orr to Minoru Yamasaki, October 23, 1961, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from E.A. MacMillan to Turner Constructon Company, December 1, 1950, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Gardener Patterson to Minoru Yamasaki, December 29, 1961, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Minoru Yamasaki to Harry Bertoia, December 22, 1964, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Minoru Yamasaki to Mr. A McNulty, August 17, 1963, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Minoru Yamasaki to Ricardo Mestres, July 5, 1962, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Rboert L. Johnston to Henry Guthard, April 23, 1965, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter from Robert F. Goheen to Harold Helm and Goerge H. Howe, December 8, 1964, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Letter of Agreement from Short & Ford Architects to the Princeton University Office of Physical Planning, March 28, 1978, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Lewin, Tamar, "Princeton Settles Money Battle Over Gift," New York Times, December 11, 2008, A29. Memo from Beatrice Miers to Jon Hlafter, February 14, 1972, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Memo from E.W. Fry to Ed Morse, May 12, 1983, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Memo from Ed Morse to E.W. Fry, May 12, 1983, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Memo from Ed Morse to Neil Rudentstein, November 15, 1978, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Memo from Henry Guthard to Minuro Yamasaki, et al., December 9, 1963, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Memo from Hentry Guthard to Minoru Yamasaki et al., July 30, 1962, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Memo from William Weathersby to Jon Hlafter, June 13, 1973, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Minutes of a meeting of the Builings and Grounds Committee of the Princeton University Board of Trustees, October 20, 1961, Princeton Universty archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Photographs, Princeton University archives, Mudd Library, Princeton, New Jersey. Powell, Michael, "At Princeton, Feeling Failed. Family Seeks Return of $525 Million, Saying University Has 'Abused' Gift