Collection ID:

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Bard College Archives
Abstract:
This collection consists of documents and artifacts created by the architectural firm of Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in 1989-1993 for the design of a new addition and the renovation of the existing buildings for the Bard College Library. Named for the principal donor, the Bard College Board of Trustees Chair Emeritus Charles P. Stevenson Jr., the completed library complex opened as Stevenson library in 1994. Documents include architectural plans, maps, mechanical drawings, and other technical drawings, ephemera, and manuals. Artifacts include mounted drawings and one model.
Extent:
20 linear feet
Language:
English

Background

Scope and Content:

Documents include architectural plans, maps, renderings, mechanical drawings, and other technical drawings, ephemera, and manuals. Technical drawings include civil drawings, architectural drawings, furnishings (N.I.C.), structural drawings, mechanical drawings, plumbing drawings, and electrical drawings; floor plans, elevations, ceiling plans, and furnishings plans. Drawings are variously in ink, watercolor, and marker on tracing paper or drawing paper; they are bound, mounted on foamboard and loose. There are two few photographic prints of the model mounted on foamboard. Artifacts include mounted drawings and one model. Associated printed ephemera includes three volumes of the project manual, including schematic designs and specifications. There is one copy of Architecture magazine, February 1994, with a review of the addition. There is also a copy of the The Pritzker Architecture Prize 1991 volume presented to Robert Venturi, that includes photographs of the Stevenson addition.

Biographical / Historical:

The Stevenson Library is Bard’s main library. Located on the Annandale Campus, it consists of three buildings: Hoffman, Kellogg, and the Stevenson addition, designed by Robert Venturi , which opened in 1993. The 1893 Greek Revival Hoffman Memorial Library was named after donor Dr. Charles Frederick Hoffman, a trustee of the College beginning in 1881. The Kellogg Library wing— designed in the Brutalist style by S.M.S. Architects, New Canaan, CT—was added in 1973-1976. Flint Kellogg, St. Stephen's class of 1931, and his wife Mary-Margaret Kellogg were the primary donors. With the Venturi addition, the entire library complex was named after the principal donor, Bard College Board of Trustees Chair Emeritus Charles P. Stevenson Jr. In 1988 Bard College retained Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates (VSBA) to expand and renovate the library. The postmodern Stevenson addition was constructed in 1993. In addition to designing the new 27,500 square foot wing, Venturi renovated the existing 25,000 square foot Hoffman and Kellogg complex. In designing the interior, Venturi placed the stacks in the center of the building, whereas seating areas were designed near the windows. Each floor offers views of the adjacent Greek Revival temple of Hoffman. The resulting library doubled the size of the library to accommodate 230,000 volumes and 400 users, expanded computer capabilities, provided study and seminar rooms, improved acoustics and added new mechanical systems. Robert Venturi (1925-2018) graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1947 and received his Master of Fine Art degree, also from Princeton, in 1950. Robert Venturi's wife, Denise Scott Brown, is an architect, planner, author, and educator. She became a partner in the firm in 1969. In 1958, Venturi established his own architectural practice as a partner of the firm of Venturi, Cope and Lippincott. In 1960-61 he entered into a brief partnership with William Short and created the firm Venturi and Short. After John Rauch replaced Short as partner in 1964, the firm's name changed to Venturi and Rauch. In 1980, the firm's name became Venturi, Rauch, and Scott Brown. After Rauch's resignation in 1989, the firm became Venturi, Scott Brown, and Associates. They won numerous awards and published extensively on modern architecture and planning. The latest generation of the firm, VSBA Architects & Planners, was founded in 2012 after the retirement of Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. This collection consists of presentation and planning materials created during the design process.

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is available for viewing in the Special Collections Reading Room of the Stevenson Library, Bard College. Please contact the Archivist.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

This collection contains a mix of copyright statuses.

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
Stevenson Library
1 Library Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504, United States
CONTACT: