Campus Planning, Historic Preservation

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Browsing Campus Planning, Historic Preservation by Author "Granke, Heidi"

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    Historic Resource Survey Form : Lawrence Hall
    (University of Oregon, 2006) Johnson, Susan; Dietzler, Karl; Granke, Heidi
    The building named for the founder of UO’s architecture program and prominent Oregon architect is a complicated layering of additions and connections among buildings, which began before his time and continued well after. Ellis Lawrence's influences on the existing 1901 Mechanical Hall by Edgar Lazarus and the 1914 Architecture Building by Knighton include many minor alterations and major changes at three different times (1923, 1924, and 1940-41). Lawrence's School of Architecture and Allied Arts was founded in 1914 and quickly rose to national prominence. His low-budget ad hoc assemblage of buildings and additions housed his school until major additions were added in 1957 and 1970. The amalgamation shows the relatively small older buildings (Mechanical Hall, Architecture Building, and Power Plant) juxtaposed with three and four story modern additions (1957, 1971, and 1991 portions). Overall, there is quite a bit of history that can be traced to the complex’s growth and changing appearance with the growth of the AAA School under Ellis Lawrence as well as the changing tastes in style over the last 100 years. The oldest portion of Lawrence, 1901 Mechanical Hall portion, was designed by Edgar Lazarus (the builder is unknown). Today it comprises the northwest portion of the Lawrence Hall complex. According to Ed Teague’s architecture research guide, Lazarus is best known for the Vista House, Crown Point (1916). He also designed two buildings at OSU. In 1914, W.C. Knighton, Oregon’s first State Architect, built a parallel building, the Architecture Building, east of Mechanical Hall facing what was then University Street (the builder is unknown). The Architecture Building was designed to resemble Mechanical Hall and indeed they appear similar to this day. An old photo of Mechanical Hall shows the cupola that was later removed by Lawrence and dark colored siding – it cannot be determined whether the siding was brick or wood. W. C. Knighton also connected the two former buildings with an addition, originally one story. In 1923 Ellis Lawrence added a second story to the connector as part of his large Arts Wing project, made possible after the heating plant moved out to its new building. This added a second-floor main drafting room and library on the courtyard. Lawrence removed the Mechanical Hall’s cupola and applied stucco to the entire ensemble to give a uniform, Mediterranean-style appearance (Teague, 2004). Other 1923-24, courtyard additions included a bay window and ambulatory. In 1940- 41 Lawrence added two wings to the north, which extended the west facade and added studio space (the builder is unknown). They were funded by WPA (WPA # 1335).