Yale University Art Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery and Design Center
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Yale University Art Gallery

Yale University Art Gallery, Louis I. Kahn

Credit

http://www.tfaoi.com/mn/mic/mic252.jpg

Site overview

Louis I. Kahn’s Yale University Art Gallery is a simple, unadorned modern structure. The building’s overall plan is two conjoined rectangles, with a facade of glass and brick. On the northeast and northwest facades various rectangular pieces of glass interlock to form a curtain wall, while the southwest facade is of solid brick with projecting stone courses. A sculpture court is also incorporated into the building’s exterior. The gallery is an important visual and cultural presence at Yale and in the community of New Haven. The building functions as a Modernist addition to the original 1928 Yale University Art Gallery.

Primary classification

Recreation (REC)

Secondary classification

Education (EDC)

Terms of protection

record only

Author(s)

Amanda Crawley | | 2/25/2007

How to Visit

Open to the public

Location

1111 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT, 6510

Country

US
More visitation information
Yale University Art Gallery, Louis I. Kahn
Credit: http://www.tfaoi.com/mn/mic/mic252.jpg

Designer(s)

Other designers

Other designer(s): George Howe, Dillingham Palmer, Anne Griswold Tyne
Consulting engineer(s): Henry Pfisterer, Major William H. Gravel, Robert B. Newman (acoustics), Richard Kelley and Stanley McCandless (lighting)
Building contractor(s): George B. Macomber Company

Related News

Related chapter

New York/Tri State

Related Sites

Commission

January 1951

Completion

6 November 1963

Commission / Completion details

Commission date: January 1951, Start of site work: June 1952, Inauguration: November 6, 1953.

Original Brief

Commission brief: To accommodate the school of architecture in the Yale University Art Gallery building through an addition to the original gallery. The addition was to house classrooms, studios and additional gallery space.
Design brief: Kahn designed a modern addition to the original gallery to accommodate the specified program.

Significant Alteration(s) with Date(s)

A) Type of change: Alteration
Date(s): 1954
Circumstance/reason for change: Function
Effect of change: Handrails added at entrance
Person(s)/organization(s) involved: Kahn, Sawyer

B) Type of change: Alteration
Date(s): c. 1958-1963
Circumstance/reason for change: Function
Effect of change: Changes made to exhibition areas
Person(s)/organization(s) involved: Yale University

C) Type of change: Alteration
Date(s): c. 1970’s
Circumstance/reason for change: Needed more space
Effect of change: Court roofed over
Person(s)/organization(s) involved: Yale University

D) Type of change: Restoration
Date(s): 2003-2006
Circumstance/reason for change: Repairs and restoration of original vision
Effects of change: Panels enclosing staircase are removed, the roof over the courtyard is removed, the sculpture garden restored, original lighting track is replaced, walls are removed to reopen ".loft" spaces, the west façade is rebuilt, window walls are replaced, unoriginal partitions are removed, the roof is repaired, the systems are upgraded, and the registrar’s office and gift shop are removed to create an open reception area.

Person(s)/organization(s) involved: Yale University, Polshek Partnership Architects, LLP

Current Use

Of whole building/site: Art gallery

Current Condition

Of whole building: Recently restored

Of surrounding area: Open court also restored

Technical

The Yale University Art Gallery is the first time Kahn created a major structure of reinforced concrete. Additionally, the use of cast concrete tetrahedral slabs as floor frames and ceilings was an altogether new innovation. By placing the building services in a central location with the stairwells, Kahn created an open space with moveable partitions. This provided interior flexibility that was both practical and inventive. The unfinished concrete walls provide a simple and honest surface on which to the display art.

Social

The gallery has been used by generations of Yale students.

Cultural & Aesthetic

The gallery is an important visual and cultural presence at Yale and in the community of New Haven. Since the building was an addition, its success in relating to the existing structure is essential to its overall success. Patricia Cummings Loud notes that the gallery’s dimensions, proportions and colors blend the new structure with the old. The building’s most notable elements are its tactile materials and surfaces, bold geometric forms, crisp lines, and sensitive use of light. The variety and tensions that stem from the interplay of these elements (such as the play with natural and artificial light and the tension between delicate partitions and heavy concrete walls) creates a dynamic and aesthetically successful space.
Canonical status: Often considered the first of Kahn’s masterpieces, The Yale Art Gallery is representative of a new dimension in Kahn’s work and foreshadows the works of his later career. In the larger sense, Kahn’s gallery “Represented a turn away from mainstream Modernism” and, in essence, “escaped…Modernism’s suffocating orthodoxies.” This departure reflects the evolving aesthetic of the modern style and opened a new period of modern design. Some, such as architect Reyner Banham, cite this work as the inspiration for Brutalist architecture.

References

Branch, Mark Allen. “The Gallery Goes Home.” Yale Alumni Magazine. May 2003. www.alumnimagazine.com

Christoffersen, John. “Yale Reopening Renowned Art Building.” The Washington Post. 2 December 2006. www.washingtonpost.com

Genocchio, Benjamin. “Brought Back to Life, a Modernist Gallery Regains Its Edge.” The New York Times. 10 December 2006.

Loud, Patricia Cummings. The Art Museums of Louis Kahn. U.S.A.: Duke University Press, 1989.

Ostroff, Tracy. “Polshek Partnership Restores a Kahn Landmark at Yale.” AIAarchitect. 19 January 2007. www.aia.org

Ouroussoff, Nicolai. “Restoring Kahn’s Gallery and Reclaiming a Corner of Architectural History at Yale.” The New York Times. 11 December 2006.

Ronner, Heinz and Sharad Jhaveri. Louis I. Kahn: Complete Work 1935-1974. Boston: Birkhauser, 1987.