A BRIEF HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND LEE - Society for ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITYLEXINGTON, VIRGINIAFigure 10: Tucker Hall, ca. 1900. (Source:Lyle & Simpson, The Architecture of HistoricLexington.)Figure 11: The Colonnade with Tucker Hall, ca. 1900. (Source: Lyle & Simpson, TheArchitecture of Historic Lexington.)In 1883, Neilson completed an addition to the rear of Lee Chapel,containing the Lee memorial statue. A “Professor’s House,” later tobecome known as Alumni House, was built in 1887 in a vernacularVictorian style, and a new gymnasium was constructed in 1890serving the university until it was destroyed by fire in 1913. In 1891, aone-story brick building with a high stone basement was constructedbehind Washington Hall, as an engineering and chemistry laboratorywith a heating plant in the basement.Development also occurred in the town of Lexington at this timewhen, in 1891, the town council of Lexington also decided tocontinue Jackson Avenue from McDowell Street “through thePreston property.” This formed a dogleg connection to the presentdayLee Avenue and Preston Street and allowed for the opening ofseveral large lots, which were soon filled by grand houses. 24William G. McDowell, a prominent local builder who received hiscivil engineering degree from the school in 1872, and T.J. Collins,an architect from Staunton, Virginia, began plans for Tucker Hallin 1897. The limestone Richardsonian Romanesque style buildingdisplaced the old north dormitory, which was destroyed to makeway for Tucker Hall, completed in 1900 and housing the law school.This massive picturesque Victorian structure contrasted sharply withthe harmonized Classical red brick buildings on the front lawn (seefi gures 10 and 11). However, the college’s new president, WilliamL. Wilson, successor to Custis Lee, admired the building for itsbeauty, solidity of construction, and ability to adapt. Despite the24Roster Lyle Jr., and Pamela Simpson, The Architecture of HistoricLexington, 92.2-14
PRESERVATION MASTER PLANOCTOBER 2005Figure 12: Washington and Lee University, ca. 1900. (Source: Miley Collection, Washingtonand Lee University Library.)four-columned porch that attempted to pay homage to the classicalidiom of the colonnade, the massing and textured materials ofTucker Hall formed a stark contrast to the elegant brick buildingslined neatly along the crest of the hill. However, it reflected trendsoccurring in the town that expressed a confident Victorian period ofdevelopment.EMULATING THE BEAUX-ARTS TRADITION:1901-1950By the turn-of-the-century, Americans studying at France’s École desBeaux-Arts, the era’s premier school of architecture, were influencedby a new classical style based on Renaissance inspiration. Eclectic,elaborate, and formal, the popularity of these design aestheticswere prominently displayed at the 1893 Columbian Expositionand soon came to dominate urban planning. The stately Beaux-Artsarchitecture and emphasis on beauty, order, system, and harmonywas intended to create order among citizens and improve societyas a whole. Grounded in an allegiance to geometric principles oforder, this design aesthetic was regarded as an ideal tool for campusplanners, as they provided organized physical and visual connectionsbetween buildings and landscape, which it was hoped would in turninfluence student behavior.Soon, many college campuses had adopted the Beaux-Arts Traditionfor their formal plans. Such plans arranged buildings and landscapefeatures around primary and secondary axes and boasted a uniformarchitectural style. Often referred to as the University BeautifulMovement, this trend echoed urban planning’s City BeautifulMovement. At Washington and Lee this new sensibility coincidedwith a prosperous period under President Wilson and later PresidentGeorge H. Denny (see fi gure 12).2-15
Page 1: CHAPTER TWOA BRIEF HISTORYOF WASHIN
Page 4 and 5: WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITYLEXING
Page 28: WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITYLEXING

A BRIEF HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND LEE - Society for ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?