Caltech Architecture

Caltech’s Architectural Heritage, from Spanish Tile to Modern Stone by Romy Wyllie Balcony Press - Los Angeles

At first glance Romy Wyllie's new book Caltech's Architectural Heritage, from Spanish Tile to Modern Stone may only seem like a wonderfully handsome architectural review of the campus...but it is no less than a commentary on how valuable architecture and design are to an
institution. This book should be on the reading list of every corporate board member, college president and community hospital chairman. In fact any group that fosters thinking and the development of ideas, should read the saga that lead to the development of one of the great educational institutions of the world.

The goal at Caltech was to create a place of the learning and testing of ideas, with the motto 'learn by doing.' Guided by the vision of great educators like the young George Ellery Hale, California's future premier technical college was transforming from a rented floor in what is now Old Town Pasadena to the first few buildings in a nearby lemon grove. A complex master plan under the hand of Bertram Goodhue was drawn up. Rich in detail, Goodhue's scheme integrated the opportunity for art and architecture to exist at every scale and within every surface of each building. These designs were about the making and sharing of spaces in the form of gardens, courts and arcaded walkways over and above the making of singular buildings. This intended plan was sadly forgotten in Caltech's 'modern era' of growth.




		A bird’s eye view of Caltech by Bertram Goodhue

			With major buildings by Gordon Kaufmann (also the architect for such noted projects as Scripps College campus and the Hoover Dam) and some of the garden spaces by the landscape architect Beatrix Jones (also the landscape architect for Dumbarton Oaks in Washington D.C.), the plan of Bertram Goodhue was in excellent hands. Any changes to it were in the letter and not in the spirit of Goodhue's master plan, as a clear and cohesive campus came into realization. The push to sciences defined the growth of the school. Buildings and research laboratories were built as a way of enticing top faculty to the college. The architecture was seen as a way of offering the college a clearly stated direction, and interaction with the communities was key at every level. While the Spanish and Mediterranean styles used in the architecture naturally created a rich fabric of spaces, it did not reflect the complex research that the buildings contained. The sciences were paid homage to by the architectural motifs that cryptically coded the buildings. The irony that some of the 20th century's most advanced ideas have rolled out of garages, barns and Spanish styled laboratories may be the subject for another book it is not addressed here . Caltech offered a base from which the most modern ideas of two generations were launched. In fact if it was a rocket or had wings and flew in WWll, it was tested and in part developed at Caltech.






		Balcony Press has done a great job in capturing the rich architectural details as well as the historical overview. The architectural photography by Douglas Hill and Robert Paz is just outstanding.



	At the heart of every school is the library. Here we see the Millikan Library tower in the background.



In an effort to build the best building they could the administration hired Edward Durell Stone to build the Beckman Auditorium

Unfortunately as the school began the 'modern era' of growth (which Romy Wyllie sets around 1950), the idea of buildings as first a 'memorial' and secondly a library, superseded the idea of buildings that support a complex fabric of spaces. Instead, the task was to build monumental buildings that were identified with key donors. It is not the modern language of architecture that has failed here, but rather the ego driven object based memorials. That these buildings are the center pieces: the auditorium and the main library, only underscores the compromises that all colleges face in fund raising and leadership. In this new 'modern era' Caltech still has not built a first rate building.

This is an outstanding book from a small quality press. Every turn of the page was richly rewarded through clear writing, contemporary and historical photos and key architectural illustrations. This work clearly demonstrates the importance of providing a shared vision for an institution through the defining years of its growth. And that through incorporating art and the humanities into the architectural setting of the learning environment it will galvanize its place in the student’s life long after they have left.