Quadrangle Dormitories (University of Pennsylvania) explained

Quadrangle Dormitories
Nrhp Type:cp
Nocat:yes
Partof:University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District
Partof Refnum:78002457
Location:Bounded by Spruce, 36th, and 38th Sts., Woodland and Hamilton Walks
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:39.9508°N -75.1973°W
Built:1894–1930, 1953–59
Architect:Cope and Stewardson (1894–1912)
Stewardson & Page (1912–29)
Trautwein & Howard (1945–59)
Architecture:Collegiate Gothic
Designated Nrhp Type:21 June 1978

The Quadrangle Dormitories (commonly referred to as Quad) are a complex of 39 conjoined residence houses at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The architectural firm of Cope and Stewardson designed the houses in an exuberant Neo-Jacobean version of the Collegiate Gothic style, and completed most of them between 1894 and 1912. The dormitories stretch from 36th to 38th Streets and from Spruce Street to Hamilton Walk (Pine Street). West of the Memorial Tower at 37th Street, the houses on the north side follow the diagonal of Woodland Avenue (now Woodland Walk) and form a long triangle with the houses on the south side. From 1895 to 1971, the dormitories housed only male students.

The Quadrangle Dormitories were listed as a contributing property in the University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District in 1978.[1]

The Quad is now grouped into 3 college houses: Fisher Hassenfeld College House (west), Ware College House (center), and Riepe College House (east).[2] As "first-year communities," they currently (2017) house approximately 1,445 students.[3]

Construction

The Quadrangle was the first major dormitory built by the university.[4] Prior to its construction, the undergraduate components of the College (25 to 50 percent of student body) was populated by many commuters from Philadelphia-area residents; students from elsewhere lived in fraternities, Philadelphia relatives or family friends, or found lodgings in off-campus boarding houses, some of which were owned by Penn.[4] The driving force behind building the dormitory was Charles Custis Harrison, heir to a sugar fortune and university provost, 1894–1910. He removed the unofficial campus architect, Frank Furness, replacing him with Cope & Stewardson, who were making a reputation as practitioners of the fashionable Collegiate Gothic style.[5] Walter Cope and John Stewardson had designed exquisitely detailed historicist buildings for Bryn Mawr College beginning in the late-1880s, but the Quadrangle would be a project at a far larger scale and with a much higher level of ornament.

Provost Harrison took as his model the English college experience of Oxford and Cambridge, where students lived, studied, ate, socialized and worshiped in a single community.[4] Often defraying construction costs with his own funds, Harrison, through Cope & Stewardson, remade the Penn campus with Collegiate Gothic buildings. Built on the former site of the university's athletic fields,[6] fifteen of the Quadrangle's houses had been completed by 1897, and six more were added by 1906.[4]

George Henderson, President of the Class of 1889, wrote a short book that he distributed to his classmates at their 20th reunion in June 1909.[7] Old Penn and Other Universities charted Penn's strong growth in acreage and number of buildings between 1889 and 1909, but also the near-quadrupling in the size of the student body and the surge in out-of-state and foreign students.[7] Henderson argued that the Quadrangle (then 22 buildings) played a vital role in attracting students, and made an impassioned plea for its expansion:

By 1912, the Spruce Street row had been extended to 36th Street and turned the corner to the newly completed Provosts' Tower, honoring the recently retired Provost Harrison. That same year, Cope & Stewardson was reorganized as Stewardson & Page. Headed by the late John Stewardson's brother Emlyn, the firm completed the houses enclosing the East and South Quads over the 1910s and 1920s.[8] Plans to add a chapel and a dining hall to the Quadrangle eventually were abandoned.[9] Instead, the dining hall at Houston Hall was expanded in the 1930s.[4] Construction of the Butcher, Speakman and Class of '28 Houses – along the south side of the Upper and Lower Quads (the site formerly reserved for a dining hall) – completed the Quadrangle's perimeter in the 1950s.[8]

1904 assessment

In his praise for The Quad, architect Ralph Adams Cram revealed some of the ethnic and cultural implications underlying the Collegiate Gothic:

College Houses

Fisher Hassenfeld

Fisher Hassenfeld College House encompasses the western section of the Quad. It encloses two sides of the triangular Upper Quad, and includes the westernmost Little Quad. It is named for Jerome and Anne Fisher and Alan G. Hassenfeld, all alumni and trustees of the university, who funded its creation. Fisher Hassenfeld College House consists of 16 individual houses.[10] As of Fall 2016, it housed 456 students, 433 of whom were freshmen.[11]

Ware

Ware College House encompasses the central section of the Quad. The H-shaped complex straddles the Upper and Lower Quads, and includes the Memorial Tower and buildings east of 37th Street. It is named for Congressman John H. Ware III, Wharton Class of 1930.[12] Ware College House consists of 11 individual houses.[13] As of Fall 2016, it housed 532 students, 505 of whom were freshmen.[14]

Riepe

Riepe College House encompasses the eastern section of the Quad. It is named for James and Gail Petty Riepe, who pledged $10 million in 2004 to fund its creation.[16] Riepe College House consists of 12 individual houses grouped around the East and South Quads.[17] As of Fall 2016, it housed 464 students, 436 of whom were freshmen.[18]

Of special interest

Memorial Tower

The Memorial Tower (1901) – formally, "War Memorial Tower" – honors Penn alumni who died in the Spanish–American War. Its carved limestone ornament was by sculptor Edward Maene. Located at 37th & Spruce Streets, the 6-story tower is the gateway to the Upper Quad.

Provosts Tower

The Provosts Tower (1912), honors the provosts of the university. It was the gift of the family and friends of Provost Charles Custis Harrison, commemorating his 1910 retirement.[20] Its carved limestone ornament, by sculptor Edward Maene, features plaques honoring each of the first 12 provosts, and twin "headboards" with the Coat of Arms of Pennsylvania at the parapet. Its fifth floor is a 2-story library and lounge.[21] Located at 36th Street just south of Spruce Street, the 7-story tower is the gateway to the Lower Quad.

Junior Balcony – McClelland Hall

The Junior Balcony is located at the west end of the Lower Quad between the North and South Steps. Originally called "The Terrace,"[19] it was expanded eastward in the 1950s and McClelland Hall, a lounge and study hall, was built in the space beneath it. McClelland is now the mail room for the entire Quad and features a small dining facility, McClelland Express.[22]

At midnight on the eve of the first Microeconomics 001 midterm exam, hundreds of students (predominantly freshmen) try to release stress by participating in a collective scream on the Junior Balcony.[23]

Little Quad

The Little Quad, located in the westernmost part of the Upper Quad, is the smallest of the green spaces. It is enclosed by Foerderer (with its 3-arch cloister), Baldwin, Class of '87 and McKean Houses, along with the iron fence that separates it from Hamilton Walk. It is sometimes called "The Nipple"[24] [25]

Sculpture

Architectural sculpture

The dormitories are adorned with a total of 163 limestone gargoyles, bosses (cartoonish grotesques), and other carved elements.[15] The Memorial Tower and the Provosts Tower feature carved limestone plaques and ornament by Edward Maene. The Upper Quad is decorated with 69 limestone bosses, spaced about 8 feet apart along the belt course between the second and third stories.[20] [29] These were carved in situ by Maene's crew, working from scaffolding.[30]

Spring Fling

Spring Fling is an annual festival of food, music, and student performances. Usually held the weekend before the end of the spring semester, it originated at the Quad in 1973.[31]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cohen. Madeline L.. [{{NRHP-PA|H001490_01H.pdf}} University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District]. National Register of Historic Places Inventory and Nomination. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. March 8, 2017. 1977.
  2. http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/maps/locations/quadrangle The Quadrangle
  3. http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/about Penn College Houses
  4. Elizabeth A. Linck, The Quadrangle (University of Pennsylvania Archives, 1990). (PDF) from University of Pennsylvania Archives.
  5. George E. Thomas, et al., Frank Furness: The Complete Works (Princeton University Press, 1996), pp. 54–55.
  6. http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/alum/99_3.html A Documentary History of Title to Penn's West Philadelphia Campus, 1870–1900
  7. George Henderson, Old Penn and Other Universities: A Comparative Study of Twenty Years Progress of The University of Pennsylvania, (U. of Pa. Class of '89, 1909).(PDF)
  8. https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pj_display_alldates.cfm/17169 Quadrangle Dormitories – Project Chronology
  9. George E. Thomas, University of Pennsylvania: An Architectural Tour (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002), pp. 104–08.
  10. https://fh.house.upenn.edu/map Fisher Hassenfeld College House – Interactive Map
  11. http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/about/fisherhassenfeld Fisher Hassenfeld College House
  12. https://ware.house.upenn.edu/History Ware College House – History and Coat of Arms
  13. https://ware.house.upenn.edu/buildings Ware College House – Buildings
  14. http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/about/ware Ware College House
  15. https://penncurrent.upenn.edu/2012-11-15/record/record-quadrangle-dormitories Quadrangle Dormitories
  16. https://riepe.house.upenn.edu/history Riepe College House – History
  17. https://riepe.house.upenn.edu/front Riepe College House
  18. http://www.collegehouses.upenn.edu/about/fisherhassenfeld Riepe College House
  19. George Erazmus Nitzche, The University of Pennsylvania: Its History, Traditions, Buildings and Memorials, (Philadelphia: International Printing Company, 7th edition 1918), pp. 62–74.https://archive.org/stream/universityofpenn01nitz/universityofpenn01nitz#page/62/mode/1up
  20. George E. Thomas, Buildings of Pennsylvania: Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, Society of Architectural Historians, University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville, 2010, pp. 133–34.
  21. http://archdart.com/post/127102534554/provost-tower-1988-quadrangle-dormitories Provosts Tower
  22. http://cms.business-services.upenn.edu/dining/hours-locations-a-menus/residential-dining/mcclelland-express.html McClelland Express
  23. http://undergrad.wharton.upenn.edu/class2009/wharton_lingo.cfm Wharton lingo
  24. Web site: What your freshman dorm says about you . thetab.com . December 11, 2011.
  25. Web site: What Your College House Says About You: A Comprehensive Guide to Freshman Housing . www.underthebutton.com . December 11, 2011.
  26. http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/maps/art/scholar-football-player-drinking-fountain Scholar, Football Player: A Drinking Fountain
  27. https://penntoday.upenn.edu/announcements/penn-announces-plans-remove-statue-george-whitefield-and-forms-working-group-study Reverend George Whitefield, from The Penn Art Collection.
  28. http://artcollection.upenn.edu/collection/art/55/charles-custis-harrison/ Charles Custis Harrison
  29. http://www.philart.net/landmark/Penn_Quad/94.html Penn Quad Gargoyles
  30. "Grotesque Designs on Sculptured Bosses," The Monumental News, vol. 12, no. 11 (November 1900), (Chicago, R. J. Haight), p. 619.https://books.google.com/books?id=5sg7AQAAMAAJ&dq=edward+maene+carver&pg=PA619
  31. http://specevents.net/fling/ Spring Fling

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Quadrangle Dormitories (University of Pennsylvania)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.