The School of Architecture is housed in Rudolph Hall (also known as the Yale Art and Architecture Building), the Brutalist masterwork of former department chair, Paul Rudolph.
History
Rudolph HallStudent desks at the Yale School of Architecture, 2008
Yale's architecture programs are an outgrowth of a longstanding commitment to the teaching of the fine arts in the university. Before the School of Architecture was established, architecture was taught at the Yale School of Fine Arts as early as 1869. Even earlier, in 1832, Yale opened the Trumbull Art Gallery, the first college-affiliated gallery in the United States. In 1916, the Department of Architecture was established at the School of Fine Arts, and in 1959, the School of Art and Architecture, as it was then known, was made into a fully graduate professional school. In 1963, the School relocated to the newly-built Yale Art and Architecture Building (now Rudolph Hall), designed by then Department Chair, Paul Rudolph, where it has remained since. In 1972, the Yale School of Architecture became its own distinct professional school.[3]
The Yale Art and Architecture Building was rededicated and reoccupied in November 2008 following an extensive renovation and addition carried out by a team which included renowned New York architect and Yale alumnus Charles Gwathmey.
Programs
The School awards the degrees of Master of Architecture I, a three-year professional degree for students holding undergraduate liberal arts degrees; Master of Architecture II, a two-year post-professional degree for students holding a professional degree in architecture; Master of Environmental Design, a nonprofessional research-based degree; and Doctor of Philosophy in architectural history and criticism. The School also offers joint-degree programs with the School of Management and School of Forestry. Additionally, a course of study for undergraduates in Yale College leads to a Bachelor of Arts.
Yale's core program has always stressed design as a fundamental discipline. While initially associated with Beaux Arts pedagogy, the school adopted a close affiliation with other modes of fine art, including sculpture, graphic design, painting and furniture design. One of its most illustrious early graduates, Eero Saarinen, produced a wide variety of student projects ranging from medals and currency to campus and monumental buildings. When the Art and Architecture Building became its home, Paul Rudolph's design reflected this close integration between various fine art departments. The Graphic Design department consistently contributed to architecture posters, publications and exhibits, particularly to Perspecta, Yale's ground-breaking student journal.
Another distinguishing element in the Yale core program has been the Yale Building Project, a first-year studio and summer program. Particularly under Dean Charles W. Moore, first-year students were pushed to design small buildings that ameliorated the life of poor or disadvantaged Americans, working as VISTA volunteers in the Appalachia. In later years the program focused more on New Haven and Southern Connecticut. A recent book on the subject documents the extraordinary breadth and significance of the work produced by students, many of whom went on to become renowned architects and educators.[4]
Yale's M.E.D., one of the first of its kind, made it possible for architects and planners to pursue a wide range of research connected to the betterment of the entire environment. Only recently have the design professions embraced this wider field of study, spurred by the movement towards sustainability and inter-disciplinarity. Notable recipients of the degree included William J. Mitchell, later dean at MIT, and Steven Izenour, a partner with Venturi, Scott Brown Associates.
The Yale Urban Design Workshop is a community design center affiliated with the Yale School of Architecture.[5] It was established in 1992 by School of Architecture professor Alan Plattus, who directs the workshop with Andrei Harwell.[6]
Rankings
DesignIntelligence's ten-year median ranking places the program 3rd. As of August 2022, the Yale School of Architecture has opted out of the annual Design Intelligence ranking system. Citing that: "However well-intentioned they may be, we believe that the DI rankings have the potential to create a disservice to the public." Joining Dean Deborah Berke in abandoning this system of ranking was Dean Sarah Whiting of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Dean Mónica Ponce de León of Princeton, and Dean Hashim Sarkis of MIT.[7]
Publications
The school maintains an active publications program.[8] It supports two student-edited journals, Perspecta and Retrospecta; a biannual news magazine, Constructs. Perspecta is the oldest student-edited peer reviewed architectural journal in the United States.[9] The school also publishes books.
*Indicates former deans of the separate School of Architecture (1972–present) or chairmen of the former Department of Architecture (part of the School of Fine Arts from 1916 and the School of Art and Architecture from 1959) †Indicates Priztker Prize laureate #Indicates Driehaus Prize laureate
The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation - a non-profit organization representing the Paul Rudolph estate, dedicated to communicating, preserving and extending Paul Rudolph's legacy with an online archive of over 12,000 images in addition to written and biographical materials.
