A Design Retrospective

By Stephen Kelly, managing editor

?EUR??,,????'??Well-defined spaces, axial views, focal points, formal and informal juxtaposition of the landscape elements and gateways play into the projects and are examples of what we?EUR??,,????'???re trying to do on the campus.?EUR??,,????'??–Herb Schaal, FASLA, EDAW principal

Washington University was founded in 1853 in St. Louis, Missouri. By the early 1890s, the university trustees opted to move the campus from the crowded downtown area to 169-acres of hill-top land west of the city. Preliminary plans from the firm Olmstead, Olmstead & Eliot of Brookline, Massachusetts followed in 1899.

From 1900 to 1902, 10 buildings were underway up on the hill. The campus developed in a linear fashion to the west of Brookings Hall, which served as the Admin Building for the 1904 World?EUR??,,????'???s Fair. Forest Park, the grounds of the World?EUR??,,????'???s Fair, created a green buffer between Kings Highway and the entrance court to the university. The university took occupancy of the buildings in 1906.

The Spine walkway is exposed aggregate paving with granite bands. Ground floor services, 18?EUR??,,????'?? seawalls and diverse plantings create a people environment. Dogwoods provide mid-spring color following the early spring bloom of daffodils, crocus and chinodoxa. Huges juniper, Fosters holly and Japanese yew provide the green base year around while burning bush and ornamental grasses create fall color. Serviceberry and littleleaf Linden are small enough trees for the narrow raised planter, but create adequate shade and good spatial separation.

The building design of Cope & Stewardson was derivative of the Academic Gothic of the 15th and 16th centuries when universities were first built. Cope & Stewardson bemoaned that few examples of that architecture were left standing on the continent, yet England retained fine examples. ?EUR??,,????'??We bow in veneration and love beneath their stately towers; and the quiet of their grass-grown quadrangles breathes in us a livelier inspiration than all the symmetry or magnificence of any seat of learning built in the classic style.?EUR??,,????'??

Descending from the ethereal to the practical plane, the architects noted the gothic style was more cost effective per cubic foot than a classic design, which required large amounts of heavy, cut stone. Gothic ?EUR??,,????'??never wastes material in an unnecessary height of stories because its composition is not bound by the application of the classic order,?EUR??,,????'?? they expostulated. Other advantages of the gothic over the classic style included greater freedom in lighting (windows in the classic style require formal spacing); greater flexibility in planning (lower ceiling heights means less percentage of wasted space in halls, stairs); continuous lines of building around quadrangles (academic gothic) saves in costs and administration, as it ?EUR??,,????'??affords for passage from the basement of one building to that of another–for all pipes and wires and for the moving of apparatus, fixtures and supplies–without the building of outside tunnels.?EUR??,,????'??

The Village Spine is the main pedestrian way connecting the student housing and the academic campus. The goal was to create a village atmosphere via a ?EUR??,,????'??grand walkway flowing through a variety of plazas and terraces with impressionable, playful and traditional landscape elements, gathering places, thematic planting, and student service facilities.?EUR??,,????'??

The architects advised a ?EUR??,,????'??reservation of most of the land in front of the hill for future consideration, but we have restricted this reserve to less than shown on Mr. Olmsted?EUR??,,????'???s plan. As a fitting approach to the buildings we have indicated a great double avenue of elms or oaks spanning a central walk 40 ft. wide, and flanked on each side by driveways. At the head of this avenue stand wide gates of ornamental ironwork...?EUR??,,????'??

Two gothic forms are represented, an early, pure, and the Jacobean, which incorporates Renaissance details, following the examples of the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. ?EUR??,,????'??...it seems to us more appropriate to use every phase of the architecture of that great period of English scholarship, which means so much to us in America?EUR??,,????'??+the age of the ?EUR??,,????'??new learning?EUR??,,????'???–of the springtime of our literature–of the birth of freedom of thought and modem democracy,?EUR??,,????'?? the architects explained. Cope & Stewardson were responsible for the university?EUR??,,????'???s first 13 buildings. Jamieson & Spearl succeeded them in 1921, creating a series of freestanding buildings that to some lacked cohesiveness with the original buildings and residual spaces.

Low seat walls, boulders and dense plantings (littleleaf linden, white pine, serviceberry, dogwood, et al.) were both the functional and aesthetic solution to retaining the steep slope.

Expansion to the south of the campus came in the 1960s. Over the last 10 years, Gene Mackey, principal architect of Mackey Mitchell Associates, and Herb Schaal, principal landscape architect of EDAW, have combined their design talents on a wide variety of campus projects. Mr. Schaal has done more than 20 separate landscape design projects at the university. His design work includes:

The collaboration between Mackey and Schaal began when the architect was building new student housing for the university. They felt the student residential housing needed a kind of village atmosphere with social spaces for students to congregate, and asked Mr. Schaal for some design ideas.

The landscape concept for the Olin Library Plaza created an open, welcoming space for the most heavily used building on campus. Elements: a mini-plaza within the larger plaza with a sculpture of George Washington as the focal point to terminate the ginkgo allee; paving bands with ancient and modern world alphabets; flexible caf????(C) tables and chairs; seat wall; dispersed bike parking; removal of paving and turf on west and north sides of the library to visually ?EUR??,,????'??float?EUR??,,????'?? the building in the central lawn space.

?EUR??,,????'??Purpose and place?EUR??,,????'?? is how Herb Schaal describes his design philosophy. ?EUR??,,????'??We define the purpose and objectives in words, and then we describe the kind of place that would fit those objectives. We list ideas about elements that could happen in the landscape and that would create that sense of place. So landscape is not just arbitrary or a decoration, it?EUR??,,????'???s a purposeful design that has a specific function to accomplish. It?EUR??,,????'???s a much more intellectual process than people realize.?EUR??,,????'??

Gene Mackey believes there?EUR??,,????'???s more to a place than buildings. ?EUR??,,????'??You may only see a corner or piece of a building, so it?EUR??,,????'???s the blending of the sky, the ground plane and the plant material with that building that is important,?EUR??,,????'?? he explains. ?EUR??,,????'??We collaborate with Herb on purposeful designs that have meaning to the people who use the space. Herb always looks for the spiritual meaning of the place. That may be in the colors of the season, the texture of the plants or physical materials such as stone or brick. As a result, we create spaces that get better and richer over time, that develop a sense of age and patina as they mature.?EUR??,,????'??

Mr. Schaal specified moveable patio furniture for the students to give them more freedom in congregating, an idea the university balked at, but agreed to in the end. The umbrellas, tables and chairs are from Forms & Surfaces. The concrete pavers are from Roman Stone, and the tree grates from Canterbury Designs and the Neenah Foundry Co.

Mackey believes listening and intuition are important aspects of planning. ?EUR??,,????'??Often, it?EUR??,,????'???s not the words that are said but the meaning behind the words. Herb has an ability to really understand the intent,?EUR??,,????'?? Mackey explains. ?EUR??,,????'??In professional design, it?EUR??,,????'???s the individuals you work with that count and Herb is an accomplished, talented designer. I always have absolute confidence that he will executive a project with imagination and creativity as well as common sense solutions.?EUR??,,????'?? University design, Mr. Schaal notes, is creating a ?EUR??,,????'??clear circulation hierarchy, creating places for the exchange of ideas and for contemplation, and creating social places. We try to express the curriculum outdoors, through art, outdoor classrooms, and outdoor resources. For example, at the new Earth and Planetary Sciences Building, we suggested putting the solar system in the pavement, to scale, so students can walk from planet to planet. In another area we suggested a compass rose that shows the four principal directions so students know where they are on earth and which way is north. Also, the compass rose shows where the sun rises and sets on the summer and winter solstice. The corners of the plaza and the walkways align with the solstice directions. We?EUR??,,????'???re trying to bring some aspect of the curriculum outdoors so students can experience learning out of the classroom.?EUR??,,????'?? Mr. Schaal said the landscape plan at the Earth and Planetary Science Building embodies good environmental practices by stressing water conservation, biodiversity and bringing native materials into the urban environment. The project qualified for LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

Mr. Schaal believes campus landscaping must establish the quality, standard and tradition of the university via quality detailing and permanent materials like granite, iron and long-lived trees. Bold landscape features make the campus a special place. ?EUR??,,????'??Well-defined spaces, axial views, focal points, formal and informal juxtaposition of the landscape elements and gateways play into the projects and are examples of what we?EUR??,,????'???re trying to do on the campus,?EUR??,,????'?? he asserts.

The lighting used in the small group housing and on The Spine is the Promenade Series from Architectural Area Lighting. The brick seat wall is 18 inches and capped with limestone from the Bybee Stone Co. The yellow perennials are day lilies.

And his working relationship with the university? ?EUR??,,????'??We spend several days in a workshop with the client,?EUR??,,????'?? he explains. ?EUR??,,????'??Once we have agreement, then we don?EUR??,,????'???t have to back up very much. We realize that in the beginning of this campus a very purposeful design decision was made, and the university deserves a lot of credit for sticking to the vision. We are following that tradition of creativity and flexibility in the landscape design.?EUR??,,????'??

How do others react to the campus design? ?EUR??,,????'??Herb Schaal of EDAW brings outstanding creative talent to each project,?EUR??,,????'?? remarks Richard Roloff, Washington University executive vice chancellor. ?EUR??,,????'??His approach to planning is to start with generalities and test these with the university community. Herb?EUR??,,????'???s design blends function and form in a manner that allows you to identify his work as you walk across the campus. In the few years that Herb has been doing landscape design for Washington University, he has designed spaces that continuously prompt comments from the campus community about the beauty of one space or another.?EUR??,,????'??

The seat wall (right) at the Olin Library is of concrete block veneered with red granite to mimic the library?EUR??,,????'???s construction. The seat wall helps maintain the grassy slope and is notched to deter skateboarders.

Mr. Roloff notes that Mr. Schaal is watchful for opportunities to connect the indoor spaces of the campus to the outdoors. ?EUR??,,????'??One case in point would be the Olin Plaza, a new outdoor area that has been built in conjunction with the renovation of Olin Library. Herb developed a plan to incorporate letters of many world alphabets into the paving stones, which surface the Olin Plaza. A subtle but powerful feature, it has already attracted broad attention.?EUR??,,????'??

While the students were unanimous in appreciating the area as a good place to hang out, they also enjoy the plantings. ?EUR??,,????'??It gives me a chance to appreciate nature,?EUR??,,????'?? observed Samantha Landman, a freshman from New York. ?EUR??,,????'??This area looks like a little village or friendly neighborhood.?EUR??,,????'??

The landscape architect specified engraved alphabetic characters from ancient and modern languages for the paving at the Olin Library. Here is an example of the Ethiopic alphabet, the Afro-Asiatic language of ancient Ethiopia that is still used as a liturgical language in the Christian Church in Ethiopia.

?EUR??,,????'??This walkway definitely separates my home life from my work life,?EUR??,,????'?? said Stephanie Gallitano, a freshman our of Chicago. It?EUR??,,????'???s a nice transition between campus and the residence halls. I often see my friends here and people are always stopping to say hello.?EUR??,,????'??