A WALKING TOUR OF i ^ Ric^^iversity ■ iaju..Ji |||LJii|l| 1* . i4-^ J 1 ^4i "-m^'^ ^i M i 1 i 1 1 1 ' r ' 1 1 1 ■ E.^fe|-|r C7.i:fa| f m ^.^^^^IHI^^HN^ ^%" JAMES C. MpREHEAD, JR I Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/walkingtourofricOOmore A WALKING TOUR OF Rice University A WALKING TOUR OF Rice University JAMES C. MOREHEAD, JR Rice University Press Houston, Texas Copyright t?198 j by Rice I'nivtrsity Second edition, 19')(), rc\ i^cd and expanded All rights reserved Printed in the U.S.A. by Wetmore Typesetting by Wordseller Library of Congress (Cataloging in Publication Data Morehead, James C, 1913 — A walking tour of Rice Liniversity 1. Rice University — Description — Views. 2. Rice University — Buildings — Pictorial works. 3. Rice University — Guide-books. 1. Title. II. Series. LD60S3.M66 1984 1990 378.764 'l4ll 90-52984 ISBN 0-89263-300-X clothbound ISBN 0-89263-301-8 paperbound Contents Preface Introduction \ii X Space Science and Technology Building SO The Tour 1 Keith -Wiess (ieological Laboratories SI Entrance Lovett Hall 1 3 Anderson Biological Laboratories S2 Founders' Room Physics Building Sewall Hall 8 20 Cieorge R. Brown Biosciences Building Rice Memorial Student (Center and Chapel 54 SS Academic Court 29 Alice Pratt Brown Hall 61 Anderson Hall 31 Herring Hall 62 Dell Butcher Hall 32 Fondren Library 64 ■45° 90° 180° Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory 43 44 Rayzor Hall (;ohen House Allen Center 66 66 75 Mechanical Laboratory 45 Residential Colleges 76 Mechanical Engineering Building 4? Rice Stadium 87 Ryon Engineering Laboratory 48 Mudd Building 48 Herman Brown Building 49 Hamman Hall 49 To William Ward Watkin who invited the author to Join the Rice faculty fifty years ago Preface I happened upon the Rice scene at just the right time, and so did William Ward Watkin. He was the architects' representative on the original work, was Chairman of the Department of Architecture from the opening of the Institute until his death in 1952, and later designed several other campus buildings himself. It is in his memory that the color photographs in this revised edition of ^ Walking Tour were funded through the generosity of his daughter, Mrs. Ray Watkin Hoagland. In 1940, when 1 came to Rice, Mr. Watkin was giving slide talks about Rice, its history, and its architecture. I was "invited" to run the projector (an elderly 3V4" x -4" manual one), chang- ing slides to follow Mr. Watkin's prepared text. How could I possibly fail to become interested? Like all visitors to the Rice campus, I had asked of the various faces and symbols cut in stone, cast in bronze, or molded in clay, "Who are you? What do you represent? " Fortunately I was able, through Mr. Watkin and Jimmy Chillman, Jr., to discover many of the answers. I began photographing the campus myself in the late 1940s, but it was not until after Mr. Watkin's death that I began conducting campus tours. They were initiated as part of the Faculty Women's Club program for wives of new- comers to the faculty, but I felt especially honored and encouraged by the repeated attendance of Mrs. Dorothy Richter and of Miss Pender Turnbull. 1 secretly suspect that they both knew as much about the tour as 1 did but were kind enough not to betray me. Two problems developed with respect to the guided tours. First, they became so popular that it was impossible for those attending to hear even my basso profundo. Second, they were rather tiring for many people as the walks grew longer and longer. Hence a series of slide talks evolved. These had the obvious advantage of making the "tours" available to large numbers with less wear and tear on the audiences and of being independent of the weather or the time of day. I would not attempt to guess the number of tours or slide presentations that I have made over the years. Later, at the urging of the Development Office of the university, Douglas Killgore produced a I6mm sound film called Rice Today, but because of its limited coverage, the film simply whets the appetite. In 1981 the Office of Information Services produced the Rice University Calendar, but this also only scratched the surface. After each tour or slide show or presentation of Rice Today, members of the audience persistently asked when 1 would write a book documenting the architecture and sculpture of Rice. In response to those many requests, interpreted as popular demand, I have enlarged the scope of the other presentations through A Walking Tour. My primar> purpose in developing this walking-tour guide is to make the readers who have visited the Rice campus, or who may even have lived on it for four or more years, aware of the fascinating details in stone, metal, brick, or clay that they failed to notice during their stay. Publication costs do not permit me to make your tour a photographic documentary of the campus, but the written text will approach a documentary description of most of the buildings and items of interest. Over the years I have also stumbled upon some intriguing anecdotes, a few of which I will share with you. Linfortunately, I cannot include many of the interesting stories about the university in this brief guide, but some of them are told in .4 History of Rice University: The Institute Years. 190^-1963, by Fredericka Meiners (Rice University Press, 1982). I highly recommend that book to every former Rice student as fascinating reading. Another publication of must-read status is Architecture at Rice. The General Plan of the William AI. Rice Institute and Its Architectural Development, by Stephen Fox, Mono- graph 29 of the Department of Architecture. One entire satellite saga that should some day be recorded is the story of Oswald J. Lassig, the sculptor who did virtually all the carving on campus through the time when Cohen House was built. The reader wishing to see other fine examples of his work should visit the Holy Rosary Catholic Church at ,^6()() Travis Street in Hous- ton. The architectural detail from which the beauty of Rice derived could also in itself be the subject of a paper. Such Italian predecessors as the Doge's Palace in Venice, Giotto's campanile at the cathedral in Florence, and the other lovely campaniles throughout Italy were equaled in many ways by the work of the architects who created the Rice buildings. Until we can actuailly visit these wonderful cities, we can continue to enjoy the work of Oswald Lassig, James Chillman, David Parsons, William McVey, and others through this book, but more by repeated visits to the campus. Photography is a won- derful medium, but there is absolutely no substitute for experiencing in person the actual buildings, spaces, and delightful details of the Rice University campus. Many present and former faculty members and students have contributed to this publication. Where space has permitted, 1 have included the construc- tion slides that Mr Watkin gave me for use in my structures course in archi- tecture. Through his talks before such groups as the Houston Philosophical Society, he also contributed valuable information about the development of the plan and design of the campus. Nolan E. Barrick, who received his B. A. degree in architecture in 19.-^S and is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Texas Tech University, provided me with a copy of a letter from Dr. William N. Craig, formerly of the chemistry faculty at Rice. It was addressed to Mr. Watkin and explained many of the alchemical and chemical symbols that appear on the Chemistry Building. The late G. Holmes Richter, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, pointed me in the direction of books on the history of chemistry located in Fondren Library. David G. Parsons, Professor Emeritus of Eine Arts, has been more than helpful in identifying his "bricks" on the Biol- ogy, Geology, and Space Science and Technology buildings. On a number of occasions I used Mr. J. T McCants' paper about the early days of Rice for verification of information. And the photographs of the models of the build- ings under construction, the Founders' Room, and the Herring Hall Library are included thanks to Thomas Lavergne of University Relations. Others whom 1 consulted were Dr Charles W. Philpott of Biology, Dr Kristine Wallace of Classics, and others I'm sure I have forgotten. It is my hope that I can make the reader experience the beauty, delight, and even the humor of the Rice campus, and that he or she will be irresistibly stimulated to return and search for items that even I have failed to see. Introduction The architectural history of what we now call Rice University began in 1909 when Dr. Edgar Odell Lovett met with the firm of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson of New York and Boston. From their meetings a general plan for the Rice Institute was developed. They considered and discarded a number of styles. The "collegiate Gothic" of West Point Military Academy and Princeton University, with its small windows and steep roofs, was quite inappropriate. At the time, relations with Mexico were hardly ideal, so a style similar to the Spanish Romanesque or the Mission style of Mexico was eliminated. At one point Mr. Cram prepared a sketch for Lovett Hall that, with round arched cloisters, twelve columns rising from twelve piers, open loggias, and Gothic niches, resembled St. Mark's in Venice. This design, however, did not even reach the discussion stage, as it was characterized by one observer as "wed- ding cake" architecture. The discussants ultimately agreed that the style of the Institute should be appropriate to the climate of the region and should strive to represent the development of the Romanesque in Italy, had the beginning of Gothic not terminated the development of Romanesque. The Boston and New York offices of the firm held an inhouse competition for the master plan. The Boston office under Cram developed a grand plan in which the academic court was almost a mile long; in the Goodhue plan of the New York office, the academic court was about one-half mile in length. In both cases, access to the buildings was from a point on Old Main Street Road farther from the city of Houston than the present location of Gate Number 1 at Main Street and Sunset Boulevard — a rather serious mistake considering the condition of Old Main Street Road at the time. William Ward Watkin was assigned the task of combining the two plans and of including some of the recommendations of the trustees. The result was a plan in which the academic court was only a quarter mile in length (1,300 feet), and access was provided at the point on the 290 acres nearest to the city of Houston. (See black-and-white photograph 2.) The design of the new university, which had neither faculty nor students and which was located almost two miles from the city limits, presented unusual problems in that none of the usual city services were available. Power and water were immediate needs, and some provision for sewage disposal was obviously a must. Drainage of the site had to be provided as well, since no assistance could be anticipated from Harris County toward that end. The western one-third of the site was subject to regular overflowing of Harris Gully, although the balance of the site could hardly be characterized as arid at any time. The immediate needs of the new university were to be served by the construction of an Administration Building (renamed Lovett Hall in December 194"'); the Mechanical Laboratory; the power plant with its stately smokestack; the campanile; a dining hall; and a dormitory (South Hall, now part of Will Rice College). The Administration Building housed the library, the faculty chamber, a number of classrooms, and faculty and administrative offices. The Mechanical Laboratory housed Engineering, Architecture, and several other departments, with classrooms and laboratory facilities. The adoption of Italian Romanesque as a style dictated a philosophy in the use of materials; those buildings located on the academic court were to be rich in marble and stone with small areas of brick. Academic buildings not on the academic court were to have less marble but considerably more stone and brick, whereas the residential buildings were to be predominantly stucco with a limited use of stone and brick. This distribution of materials is still evident in Venice and elsewhere in Italy today. Originally the Rice Institute was scheduled to open in 1911, but in keeping with the good intentions of the construction industry and the optimism of architects, the new university opened its doors in September 1912. Dr. Lovett s dream, as well as the dreams of the board of trustees, had been realized. And so Dr Lovett occupied his new office, which was located on the fourth floor of the Administration Building directly over the Sallyport. Some years later, Dr Hubert Bray of the Department of Mathematics represented Dr Lovett at the inauguration of the president of Texas A&M University. On that occasion he carried the greetings of the Rice Institute to the sister institution and wrote: A great man is Edgar O. Lovett. His office has nothing above it. It is four stories high. As high in the sky As William Ward Watkin could shore it. More recent buildings have been unable to continue the use of marbles in many colors or the profusion of sculptured stone ornament seen earlier. This is because of the high cost of those materials as well as the scarcity of artisans needed to work and carve them. Glazed ceramics have been used frequently to provide some color and variety, although recently the most interesting variety has been provided by the sculptured bricks in the Biology, Geology, and Space Science and Technology buildings. The almost complete absence of owls as a decorative form is unfortunate. We will look at many of the wonderful features of Lovett Hall and the other campus buildings during our tour of the Rice University grounds. So put on your walking shoes, or relax in a comfortable chair, and join me at Gate Number 1. M^gm^ . >^B W^ 'x '^'^^ijl^^^^^^^^l ^ 6 Figure 1. Lovett Hall Capitals ==iiy4 4^ w n^^ M m m m m il &■ 12 11 10 ^^ 8S Sophus Lie — Mathematics 8W William Kelvin— Physics 8N Dmitri Mendeleeff — Chemistry 8E Charles Darwin — Biology lis Francis Gallon — Eugenics IIW Heinrich Hertz— Electricity UN Pierre Curie — Radioactivity HE Samuel Langley — Aerodynamics =^Ji. M m m H m a. 6 5 4 3 2 I I 2S Thucydides — History 2W Michelangelo— Art 2N Immanuel Kant — Philosophy 2E St. Paul— Religion 5S Ferdinand de Lesseps— Engineering 5W Louis Pasteur — Medicine 5N Christopher Columbus — Commerce 5E Thomas Jefferson —Jurisprudence 1 (iutf Number 1 2 Lovett Hall 5 Physics Building 4 Sewall Hall 5 Statue of William Marsh Rice 6 Anderson Hall 7 Dell Butcher Hall 8 ~i5°. 90°. 180° 9 Abercrombie Laboratory 10 Old Mechanical Laboratory and Campanile 11 New Mechanical Engineering Building 12 Ryon Laboratory 13 Mudd Building 14 Herman Brown Building 15 Hamman Hall 16 Space Science and Technology Building 17 Keith -Wiess Geological Laboratories 18 Anderson Biological Laboratories 19 George R. Brown Biosciences Building 20 Rice Memorial and Lev Student Centers 21 Rice Chapel 22 Alice Pratt Brown Hall 23 Herring Hall 24 Fondren Library 2 5 RayzorHall 26 Cohen House 27 Allen Center 28 Baker College 29 Wiess College 30 Hanszen College 31 Richardson College 32 Will Rice College 33 Lovett College 34 Jones College 35 Brown College The Tour Entrance (See Color Plate 1.) We begin at Gate Number 1, at the corner of Main Street and Sunset Boulevard. Here the Rice University shield is placed on either side of the entrance. Gates 2 and 3 are similar in design, with a lantern but without the shields. Numerous Rice shields appear in and on buildings throughout the campus. Look closely at the entrance piers at Gate Number 1, with their shields and wrought-iron lanterns. Until recently (19^8) the brick and stone piers were covered with ivy. From Gate Number 1 , vou mav follow the diagram of the tour as shown. It will take real stamina to complete the full trip in just one session, but you can take such detours as suit your particular interests. You might want to scan the book quickly to determine which buildings and details you most want to see on vour first walk. This photograph shows the master plan of the campus as drawn by William Ward Watkin. The length of the academic court was reduced by one-half when Fondrcn Library was built in 1949. The library was originally intended to be located within the Graduate School com- plex at the north end of the cross axis beginning with Gate Number 4. That gate was to have been a main entrance to the campus, and it corresponded closely to the major access point of both the Boston plan and the New York plan of the architectural firm Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson. We will see this master plan again in bronze in the left hand of the founder, in the center of the academic court. Another, more recent change in BC3 \^ the original plan is the purchase in 1983 of the motor inn formerly known as the Tidelands, at the corner of South Main Street and University Boulevard, to be used as graduate-student apartments. For the first time since 1912, the campus has been extended beyond its original boundaries. Lovett Hall The Administration Building rises from the Texas prairie. The site could hardly have been called heavily wooded at the time, although now it is extremely difficult to photo- graph many campus buildings because of the trees. The original site was landscaped with trees provided by Teas Nursery. (See Color Plate 2.) As we stroll from Gate Number 1 through a tree-lined walk, the Administration Building (now called Lovett Hall) bursts upon us. The rcdedication, when the building was renamed, is marked by an inscription on the south side of the Sallyport. I clearly recall doing the full-size drawing of the inscription for Mr. Watkin, reading: lovett hall in grateful HOMAGE TO THE CLEAR \TSION, UNFALTERING ZEAL AND BENEFICENT LABORS OF EDGAR ODELL LOVETT FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE RICE INSTI- TUTE. EXEGIT MONUMENTl'M AFRE PERENNIUS. (The Latin is a quotation from Horace, T have built a monu- ment more lasting than bronze.") (See Color Plate 3) Approaching the building more closely, we could spend some time admiring the cen- tral tower. The beautiful Sallyport arch is flanked by long white applied columns that extend the full height of the building and are capped by lead-covered cupolas, the latter being particularly beautiful. Note the two handsome dark marble columns and the six smaller columns at the six pairs of windows. Dr Lovett 's office, as described in Dr Bray's limerick, was located behind the upper three pairs. This central tower appears to be symmetrical, but you will surely spot the diver- gence from symmetry. This photograph is a view of the Sallyport in the late afternoon. The changing sunlight enhances the beauty of the buildings as the shadows travel during the day. We will see other examples of this phenomenon later. Three handsome bands of stone carving adorn the east side of the Sallyport. Two of them are floral in nature, and the third shows the column capital with the initial "R" and a delightful jester as part of the capital design. Above the capital on the band of carving is a pair of birds of questionable ancestry, but possibly chaparrals. Above the birds are a squirrel and several fish, with the pair of birds beginning a repetition of this threefold design. (See Color Plate -t.) Flanking the Sallyport on each side are the two- story balconies with three mono- lithic white marble columns. Note the carved keystones in each arch and the colorful glazed tiles above. Here, from an early construction slide, the white columns are being lifted into place. Fortunately, they didn't drop any of these! And here is one of the stone keystones, another owl, a rather stvlized one. Some of the capitals are carved with a floral design, while others show the figure of a long-legged slender man emerging from the flower. These capitals were, of course, designed by the architects in Boston, and it is rumored that the figure represented William Ward Watkin. I never heard either Mr. Watkin or Mr Chillman confirm this, but the caricature is certainly in keeping with Mr. Watkin's physi- cal "design. " The white porcelain insulators on the corners of the capitals carry electrified wires intended to intimidate the many pigeons that try to nest on the campus buildings. 10 The cornerstone combines the shield of the State of Texas and another Rice Institute shield, and three are added to the growing fam- ily of owls. The Greek inscription translates: "Rather,' said Democri- tus, would 1 discover the cause of one fact than become king of the Persians'" This declaration was made at a time when to be king of the Persians was to rule the world. The Roman numeral indicating the date is interesting, because instead of MDCCCCXI it would normally be MCMXl. The latter is hardly as attractive architecturalh'. If we look up as we pass through the Sallyport, we see the head of a senior with his mortar board. His face reflects the peace of accom- plishment at having completed his degree requirements. 12 On the opposite side (north) is the \ ery stern and worried head of the junior student, who still has those requirements to complete. His brow- tells the stor\- of his worries. 13 And on the west end of the Sally- port on the south side is the head of the all-knowing, all-seeing, and formerly immature freshman, the very mature sophomore. 14 Finally, opposite him, is the im- mature, giddy freshman, who is thrilled at having made it past the Admissions Committee, no doubt. If you looked up as you passed through the Sallyport, you saw high on the south wall above the arches the circular ceramic of a little owl, with four circular ceramics each containing three dolphins. On the opposite wall, but not shown here, is a ceramic white star with the four ceramics of dolphins repeated. The original architect's drawings of these designs are on file in the Woodson Research Center of Fondrcn Librarv. Founders' Room 16 This space is now called the Found- ers' Room, probably because of the ten portraits of members of the first board of trustees. Earlier it was known as the "Faculty Chamber," and was originally intended for faculty meetings. At that time it contained two handsome banks of oak benches along the east and west walls. Apparently it was not used for this purpose because Dr Lo\ett feared such an arrangement would divide the faculty into fac- tions, much like the seating in the houses of Parliament. There is a raised platform on the south end, which used to contain a small stage. The room is obviously two stories high, since the photograph was taken from a balcony at the north end of the room, which is handsome in itself because of three white marble columns. The rug, made especially for the space, has a border of Rice shields, with an owl in each corner. Access to the room is controlled by an alarm system, so the "tourist" will find it difficult to view. 17 On the west side of Lovett Hall are twelve monolithic granite columns. Here is another construction photo- graph of one of these being lowered over a steel centering pin. This method of guaranteeing the exact location of the column on its base is hardly new. The Greeks used it, especially when columns were not monolithic and each section had to be located exactly in the center of the section below. However, they did not use steel centering pins, but lead or stone ones. 18 This, another construction photo- graph, is one of the twelve capitals on the granite columns. These were carved in place by Oswald J. Lassig, who immigrated to the United States from Germany in about 1905 and originally worked as a marble- cutter of tombstones in Chicago. 19 Mr Lassig was brought to Houston in 1910 to do the carving on the Administration Building, and he became a Texan. He later owned and operated a limestone quarry in McNeil, Texas, just north of Austin; he and Mrs. Lassig raised their five children there. None of the five was born in the United States, though, since Mrs. Lassig always returned to Germany when each child was to be born. Lassig was truly a remark- able artist, and he was commissioned to do work on later buildings on the campus, including the Chemistry Building and Cohen House. For his rich legacy of magnificent sculpture, he deserves to be included here. As I have said, the stor\- of Mr. Lassig is one in itself and is too lengthy to be told here. 20 This is the west end of the Salh - port arch. The two bands of floral carving are similar to those on the east end. It should be noted, however, that all the carving on Lovett Hall was done in place. iJ 21 But the other band is entirely different. It begins with a man with a ram. above which is a floral design. The first design at the bot- tom includes two seated figures that are not repeated again. 1 i'-fP«i^pii^^MK- .' \ ; vS.^ i^B' X *T -*^'' ' ->*>^B '^Apr^'^^B . 'vW^^I^L. \»-»- - ^'^^' ^?^^H| ■ "\ -• ' V^[:^t rHm 22 The carving of a peacock feeding is the next image, and then the floral pattern is repeated above that. These repeat alternately to the very top of the arch. Some ha\e speculated whether there was any connection between the figure of the ram and the signs of the zodiac, or perhaps some other significance in the field of astronomy, since that was one of Dr. Lovett's fields of activitv. 23 On the west facade of Lovett Hall, to the left (north) of the Sallyport, is a female figure holding an owl in her left hand. This is certainly Athena, and this panel represents science. The inscription IF w K PROPERLY OBSERVE CELESTIAL PHENOMENA WE MAY DEMONSTRATE THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN THEM iS a quotation from Aristotle and refers to astronomv. 24 We can compare the bronze figure "Athena Flying Her Owl" with her mirror image on Lovett Hall. Note that the bronze figure has the right knee slightly bent and is holding the owl in her right hand, whereas the stone figure has the left knee slightly bent and is holding the owl in her left hand, which is indeed a remarkable similarity. The only real difference is that the bronze figure has her left arm raised, while the stone figure has her right arm on her head. The photograph of the bronze figure is reproduced through the courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 19S0. 25 The female figure on the south side of the Sallyport represents the arts. LO\'E, BEALT^'. JOY AND WORSHIP ARE FOREVER Bl_'Il.DING, INBULDING AND REBUILDING IN EACH .MAN S SOL L is a quotation from Plotinus. "When one of Lassig's children compared the face of the figure with a photograph of her mother, she was surprised to see that thev were the same. 26 South of the Sallyport and above the arches are three carved plaques. The one on the left has the head of Homer on it and symbolizes letters. The inscription THE THING that ONE SAYS V; ELL GOES FORTH \X ITH A \XMCE EVERLASTING is from the Greek poet Pindar. JL ^■B 7) 27 The plaque in the center represents science and has the carved head of Isaac Newton. The quotation SPEAK TO THE EARTH AND IT SHALL TEACH THEE is from the biblical philoso- pher Job. 28 The plaque on the right with the head of Leonardo da Vinci rep- resents art. Dr. Lovett himself wrote the accompanying inscrip- tion; THE CHIEF FUNCTION OF ART IS TO MAKE GENTLE THE LIFE OF THE VtORLD. Dr. Lovett also composed the inscriptions on the corner- stones of all the buildings that were erected through 1916. 29 Again we are fortunate to ha\e this construction slide of the west side of Lovett Hall showing the applied columns with their handsome capi- tals. The brickwork and stonework had not yet been set in place behind them. The pelican and the owl cap- itals are in the foreground. I hope you have noticed that there are innumerable birds of all sizes and shapes on the campus buildings. 30 A similar view of the completed building was taken from the roof of the cloister that connects Lovett Hall and Sewall Hall. 31 The owl capital is shown with the wise old bird on three sides of the capital. As noted above, you will see many other birds if you are obser- vant, such as doves, peacocks, and chaparrals (road-runners). 32 Here are the pelicans on the tall applied columns. There are only two on each capital, since they are carved on the corners rather than on the faces of the capitals. 33 Now wc see the capital with the seal of Aesculapius, the Roman god of medicine. On the preliminary campus plan prepared in Boston, provision was actually made for a medical school. Now we return to the twelve granite columns that line the cloister on the west side of Lovett Hall, six on each side of the Sallyport. There are three types of capitals on them; each type occurs four times. (See Figure 1.) 34 Counting from the south (refer to Figure 1), columns 1, 4, 9. and 12 are the chaparral capitals. The chaparral is also a native Texan, and the fact that it is a member of the cuckoo familv is, I'm sure, irrelevant. ^..^f^fp:. Columns 3. 6, 7, and 10 are the campus life capitals, showing a coed with her 1912 mod hat, the intrigued student with an unread book in his lap looking her way, and the football player, also in a 1912 uniform and undoubtedly interested, as he is running in her direction. He has been chasing her unsuccessfully on these capitals since 1912! 36 Columns 2, 5, 8, and 11 are carved with the heads of the founders of various disciplines, or the leaders in various fields of endeavor Refer- ring again to the diagram, the per- sons whose heads are represented on columns 2,8, and 11 are not shown here. Amazingh, two of the men represented were cousins: Charles Darwin and Sir Francis Galton were grandsons of Erasmus Darwin, the English naturalist and poet. Only those heads on column 5 are shown here, the first on the south side of the column being Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French diplomat and engineer who rep- resents the field of engineering; he was honored for his part in constructing the Suez Canal iPHl "^"^MlPiPiiP 37 On the west side of column 5 is Louis Pasteur, a French chemist and bacteriologist, representing medicine. 38 On the north side is Christopher Columbus, the ItaUan explorer and navigator, who represents commerce. 39 And on the east (cloister) side is Thomas Jefferson — statesman, law- yer, and architect— who represents jurisprudence. These capitals bear a remarkable resemblance to those on the Doge's Palace in Venice. Those in Italy, however, are not as large as the Rice ones, nor are they nearly so finely carved. An article in the Houston Post at the time of the official open- ing of the new institute reported that some of the heads on the columns were being carved out of historical sequence, and that Mr. Watkin asked Mr. Lassig to attempt to change them by cutting the stone more deeply. Mr Lassig is supposed to have been successful in doing so. The precise sequence of dates, though, seems to correlate only approximately with the men's sequence on the capitals. On the other hand, the same newspaper reported that the head on the north side of column 11 is that of James Currie, a Scottish physician, whereas all subsequent references are to Pierre Curie, the French scientist. In any case, none of these uncer- tainties detracts from the beauty of the capitals and the fascination they hold for us. Much has been said about the brickwork on Lovett Hall. Because of the unusually thick bed of mor- tar of one inch, it was impossible to lay more than two or three courses of brick a day. It has also been said that this heavy mortar joint gave the brickwork a horizontal feeling; but that appearance, while true, is not due to the horizontal joint alone. The unsung trick lies in the almost total absence of mortar in the vertical head joint. An interest- ing exercise exists in comparing the appearance of the brickwork on Lovett Hall with that on the Ryon Engineering Laboratory. The exis- tence of a considerable head joint on the latter building gives the brickwork quite a different effect. 40 On the cloisters connecting Lovett Hall to the Physics Building and Lovett Hall to Sewall Hall are five carved medallions and two carved shields. These are similar to some on the Giotto cathedral tower in Florence, Italy, although the latter are in a diamond shape instead of a circle. From left to right, these are the shield of the State of Texas (not shown in the photograph); a man with a shovel, representing agricul- ture; a man with a sphere, represent- ing geography; a man with a book, representing literature; a man observing lightning, representing meteorology; a man with a chisel, representing sculpture; and the shield of the Rice Institute, with even three more owls. There are actually three sets of medallions on each side of each cloister, but the shields are reversed in order in the third set. Can you find the miniature owl between the man with the chisel and the shield on the right? The small black spot on the edge of meteorology is a piece of ball moss. 41 Between the sets of medallions are two peacocks worked into a circu- lar design, with a lamp of oil or a basket of fruit in the center. (See Color Plate 5.) Here is the west elevation of Lovett Hall as it is seen from the statue of the founder The shadows of the turrets of Sewall Hall on the right add movement and variety. Also, in the late after- noon the ceramic tiles along the upper part of the building reflect almost like gems. Physics Building 42 Leaving Lovett Hall, we proceed to the next building constructed on the academic court. The Physics Laboratory was built in 1914, and the architects were of course Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson. Although it is not obvious from this photo- graph, the arches are not all the same height, the tallest being located in the center under the stone balcony. The cornerstone on the southwest corner of the build- ing continues the method of record- ing the date in Roman numerals: MDCCCCXiv. Thanks to the head stonemason, Mr. Ernest W. Harrow- ing, I am fortunate to have a 4" x 6 " portion of a slab of dark green veined marble that was to have been placed on the south wall of the building near the west end. This piece of marble was rejected by Mr. Watkin. since it was slightly damaged. (See Color Plate 6.) The main entrance to the Physics Building shows its brilliant mosaic designs. 43 A balcony over the main entrance serves as a pigeon rookery, which fortunately is not obvious from below. However, it does not make for a pleasant experience in reach- ing the balcony from one of the Physics lecture rooms to photo- graph the handsome owls. 44 On each corner of the balcony is a stone owl, and here is one of them. This is probably the finest carved owl on the entire campus. Even today the chisel marks on his feathers are distinct and unweathered. m II 1 45 A portion of the south facade shows the different heights of the arches and the handsome turrets. Under these turrets is a series of ventilating shafts that previously permitted fumes from the chem- istry laboratories below to be exhausted into the atmosphere. While no longer used in that man- ner, a few are used in connection with the air conditioning, which was installed at a later date. When chemistry moved to its own facili- ties in 1925. the pigeons promptly moved into the vents. They were later evicted. w i liilML 46 There are a number of attractive drinking fountains around the cam- pus, some, but not many, still being operational. You will find this one of marble and stone at the west end of the physics cloisters. 47 Just before entering the building, you will see two brick niches, one on each side. While these niches are attractive examples of fine brick- work with wedge-shaped bricks and bricks with curved surfaces, the students find them amusing. as they are known as "whispering niches." If two people climb into the two niches and kneel with their backs to each other, the person in one niche can converse with the person in the other by speaking in a whisper If you are young you might try it. 48 A particularly interesting angle shows the turrets on the rear of the building partially framed by those on the front. Shadows of the turrets on the Physics Amphitheatre are continually changing. At times the shadow of only one turret is seen, while at other times, both turrets cast shadows on the wall behind. 49 The architects even designed the hardware for the first buildings. The original drawings for this snake may be seen in the archives in Fondren Library, as may the drawing of the peacock door plates. 50 Notice with a the door plate designed pair of peacociXatkin, Cram and Ferguson as architects. It is a storehouse of symbols, some of which date back to the Chaldean civilization of 1500 BC and beyond At least two volumes explaining the details are available in the Fondren Library for those who wish to delve more deeply into the various symbols. This photograph, taken around 1930, shows the rose garden of the legendary Tony Martino (master of campus planting), where Anderson Hall is now located. It is no longer possible to photograph this building because of the planting obscuring it . In 1990 the Chemistry Building was renamed Dell Butcher Hall in honor of former trustee Ernest Dell Butcher '34, who served the university in many capacities, and in particular supported the Chemistry and Chem- ical Engineering departments. Notice the arched entrance to the cloister at the lower entry to the Chemistry Lecture Hall. The arch was located too far to the left during construction, there being no brick between the stone on the left side of the opening and wall of the lecture hall, while there are ten inches of brick or more between the stone on the right of the opening and the brick pier Had the arch been moved five inches to the right, there would have been space for all three Fates on the left capital. 67 I photographed a print of the original tracing of the three Fates of destiny from Greek mythology, where Clotho v^^/fr. ^ spins the thread of life, Lachesis measures it, and Atropos severs it. Our three Fates of academic destiny are Samuel Glenn McCann, the direc- tor of admissions; Harry Caldwell, dean of the Institute, who is meas- uring (by grades) the thread of knowledge; and Dr Radoslav Tsanoff, chairman of the Committee on Examinations and Standings, who severs the academic thread with a menacing pair of shears. The original drawings of the other three capitals are in the university archives, but the original drawing of the three Fates has been lost. Fortunately a print was made before it disappeared. These four capital designs were made by James Chillman of the faculty in architecture. 68 Only Mr. McCann and Dean Caldwell made it into the final carving. 69 On the opposite side of the arch is a freshman in Chemistry 100 with his bunsen burner, extracting poison from the dragon's tooth. 70 Around the corner is the carving of the tall (6 foot, 4 inch), thin (l40 pounds), very length)'-legged William Ward Watkin with a T-square in hand. Architectural students are bowing down in due respect, perhaps to the Lord High Executioner, and Mr. VC'atkin has one foot on the neck of a freshman. Mr. Chillman's original pencil drawing showed a halo over Mr. Watkin's head, but this was deleted by the architect. (Architec- ture was housed in this building when it was completed.) 71 The last capital is a huge winged dragon with the head of Harry B. >X'eiser, instead of the crested head. Note the terrible claws with which the dragon subdues a student. The head in the upper right-hand cor- ner is that of Mr Flanigan, who was in charge of the chemistry storeroom and was Dr. Weiser's assistant. 72 You will want particularly to appreciate the impressive upper entrance to the Chemistry Lecture Hall. 73 Now we see a circular design called an enigma, this being Kircher's enigma. These were designed by the alchemists to confuse the observer and were intended to con- ceal what was considered a basic principle of alchemy. A drawing of this may be found in the book .4 History of Chemistry from the Earliest Times, by James Campbell Brown (Philadelphia: P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 2nd ed., 1920). The first letter of each word in the outer ring spells SVLPHVR (sulphur); in the middle ring. Fix\ M; and in the inner ring, EST SOL. Combining these into a single sentence, we get SULPHUR FIXUM EST SOL. The word sol is translated "gold," since gold was symbolized by the sun. The expres- sion then reads, " Fixed sulphur is synonymous with gold." 74 On the face of the chemistry tower is Basil Valentine's enigma. In this case the first letters of the words spell "vitriol." The seven circular forms at the top are the symbols of the seven metals; the eagle is symbolic of the volatile (unstable) principle and the lion of the fixed (stable) principle. 75 On each side of the chemistry tower are entrances to the building with pairs of white columns supporting three stone arches. This cloister creates an outside vestibule where several stone carvings of a pair of dragons are located. The one with wings represents mercury — the volatile principle and the female — while the one without wings represents sulphur — the fixed prin- ciple and the male. (There was no pretense of equality between the sexes in those days. ) For many years the annual commencement was held under a tent located in the court created by the tower, these entrances, and the two adjacent laboratory wings. Don't fail to look up to the third floor on each side of the tower to enjoy the delicate little pink columns and supported arches. 76 On the cloister to the right of the tower are two triangular symbols in stone. These are equilateral trian- gles with the vertices down, the one on the left signifying water and the one on the right with a horizontal bar representing earth. On the left of the tower are two similar stone triangles, but with the vertices of the triangles up. The one on the left is fire, and the one on the right with a horizontal crossbar is air The latter pair are badly weathered and should be replaced. 77 The chemistry tower itself is the location of a number of interesting symbols; in particular, the first part of the periodic table is recorded in contemporary symbols on the octagonal portion of the tower. 78 In 1869 Mendeleeff, whose head you may recall appears on the north side of column 8 on Lovett Hall, first organized the periodic table, in which he arranged the elements in order of their atomic weights. The lightest element shown on the tower is helium (He), followed in order by lithium (Li), beryllium (Be), boron (B), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and fluorine (F). In this photo- graph we see helium and lithium. 79 Identification of many of the symbols on the (Chemistry Building was made much easier by a letter written to \X illiam Ward Watkin by Dr William N. Craig, a member of the chemistry faculty in 1923. Of the many sym- bols that he describes or sketches, one is the symbol for phlogiston, a theory of combustibility supported by some chemists between 1650 and nv^. The same symbol is also shown in the circular ceramic tiles in some of the arched windows. The principle was that every material that was flammable contained some property within it that caused it to burn. Of course, there were also antiphlogiston chemists. This sym- bol appears on four sides of the tower just below the level where it changes from a square to an octagon. 80 The east and west ends of the Chemistry Building have been obscured by the recent addition of stair towers, but some of the symbols in glazed tile were included in the additions. They were occasionally installed upside down or sideways. In the court adjacent to the Chem- istry Lecture Hall is another stone balcony that is somewhat similar to the original one at the east end. In this court we also see the marble columns at the third-floor level, which are a continuation of those on each side of the chemistrv tower. 81 A major remodeling of the Chemistry Building occurred in 19^7. At that time fire stairs were constructed at the east and west ends of the building. The original east end was particularly attractive, with the stone balcony over the entrance door, pairs of windows with a marble column at the second- and third floor levels, and three little arches at the attic level. 82 When the east fire stairs were added, the architectural features of the old building were transported bodily farther east, as shown— a very commendable trick by archi- tect S. 1. Morris and Associates. 83 Many of the circular ceramic sym- bols located in the arches of the Chemistry Building are identified in James Campbell Brown's book, cited earlier I like to think of these as the della Robbias of the Rice campus, as they are quite similar to the real thing in Italy. This is the symbol for gold, represented by the sun. They may have thought the sun was a planet. <^ ♦: 84 And here we see the symbol for copper, also representing the planet Venus. One writer feels that this symbol represents Venus's hand mirror. It actually goes back many centuries to the Chaldeans, whose "chemists" associated the "seven" metals with the seven planets that they knew. If you see this symbol installed upside down (I couldn't find one), it is the symbol for anti- mony and not upside down at all. If you find it sideways, which it is on at least one occasion, it represents the license of the brickmason. i:"^ 85 This symbol for iron, representing also the planet Mars, has become very popular today. But remember that the symbol dates back many centuries. Again, this is reported to represent the shield and spear of Mars, the god of war. 86 Also representing the planet Jupiter is the svmbol for tin. © M 87 Here is lead, representing the planet Saturn. 88 Then silver, represented by tht Moon. 2^9 89 And mercury, obviously represent- ing the planet Mercur) 90 In the book Chemie et Chemistes by R. Massain, which is written mostly in French, this symbol is for water, composed of one atom of hydrogen (on the left) and one atom of oxygen (on the right.) At least that's the way they thought it was! John Dalton, an English chemist, thought of the atoms as being spherical; hence so many of the symbols are indicated with various combinations of circles. 91 And here is the symbol for ammonia, composed of one atom of nitrogen and one of hydrogen. 92 This is the svmbol for oxvnitric acid. 93 This symbol is incorporated into the building upside down on at least one occasion and represents volatile alkali 94 This is fixed alkali 95 And here is sulphuric acid. 96 This is nitric acid. I'm not sure what the difference is between oxynitric acid and nitric acid, but there are different symbols for them. 97 Finally, this is hydrochloric acid. I'm sure I must have missed at least one symbol, but the books to which I have referred should show them all. Do not fail to walk around to the north and west sides of the Chemistry Building. Many of the alchemical symbols arc on the north side, and it is especially rich in other architectural detail as well. 45°, 90° 180° 98 The "sculpture" 45°, 90°. 180° by the well-known sculptor Michael Heizer attempts to dominate the engineering quadrangle but still fails to surpass the great campanile, which is visible from so many locations on campus. My personal opinion is that the work is architecture more than it is sculpture since the designer undoubtedly prepared drawings for its construction but did not actually execute the work with his own hands. This is exactly the manner in which an architect operates. Indeed, like architecture, it is both a pleasure to the eye and functional; the individual pieces provide places for students to relax, to have lunch, and to enjoy each other's company. This group, called "the rocks" by students, was added to the campus in 1984: "A gift to Rice University in tribute to George and Alice Brown by their family. " Abercrombie Engineering Laboratory 99 From the Chemistr)- Building wc move on to the J. S. Abercrombie Laboratory for electrical engineer- ing, built in 1948, also the work of Staub, Rather and Howze. This was the second project in a rash of con- struction that began in 1947 with Anderson Hall and ended with Fon- dren Library in 1949. This building did hold rather closely to the philos- ophy that academic buildings off the main academic court should be built with more stone and brick and less marble. 100 The only ornamentation on the building is the stone carving by William McVey. This figure rep- resents man taking energy from the heavens (the sun) and putting it to work on the earth. The build- ing and the sculpture were, at one time, difficult to photograph be- cause of the many Japanese rain trees planted in front of it. An enor- mous area of the second floor was the location of an equally enor- mous computer, the first built on the Rice campus. 101 From some earlier day, in the 1930s or I94()s, comes this lovely but unusual photograph of the campus. Notice the very unattractive parking lots in (ront of the Administration Building and the old Mechanical 1 aboratory! What an improvement toda\ s arrangement is. If you thought back to the construction dates ol Anderson Hall and Fondren Library you might be a bit confused, because Fondren opened in 1949, whereas the J. S. Abercrombie Laboratory was completed in 1948 and doesn't show at all! Closer examination of Anderson and Fon- dren will show that the east end of Anderson isn't at all as shown, nor are the arches and cloisters of Fon- dren as actually built. I suspect that photographs of the models of these two buildings were imposed upon the earlier photograph by the archi tects Staub, Rather and Howze to show the Board of Trustees how the new buildings would fit in. Mechanical Laboratory 102 Moving back over the years, we have this construction photograph of the campanile tower as it was originally built in 1912. (See Color Plate 8.) While you can't see the original on the tour, you can see it as remodeled in 1930 after it was struck by lightning I personally think it is much more photogenic now. 103 This is a rather unusual view of the campanile, sometimes called a toad's- eye view. Campaniles were originally bell towers, but ours is one of the most beautiful smokestacks ever built, and now nonpolluting, too. 104 While in the area of the original Mechanical Lab, you should enjoy the stone balcony with its seven ceramic symbols under the eave of the building. These ceramics are not as easy to see in the photo- graph as they are on the site, but the one in the middle is (surprise) an owl. Similar designs are under the eaves of the Physics Building. 105 And this inscription at the base of the column near the entrance looks very much like a contemporary logo: WMRI 1911 106 Htre on the north side of the Mechanical Lab, in at least two locations, is a blue ceramic shield flanked on each side by blue ceram- ic stars. It takes a little hunting to find these. There is a very attractive brick niche on the south side of the building that is almost identical to the whispering niches at the Phys- ics Building. This one, however, houses an inactive fountain and is not a sound chamber At one time an inscription in chalk on this brick niche read "fountain of vouth. " Mechanical Engineering Building 107 The new Mechanical Engineering Building was designed by Calhoun, Tungate, Jackson and Dill Architects, and is located on the west side of the engineering quadrangle. Built in 1985, it was a gift from John L. and Maurine Cox. The building continues the arch forms of the old ■Mechanical Laboratory but has very wide overhanging eaves echoing the design of the Physics Building, and while it uses many of the materials of the original campus buildings, buff brick and limestone, with blue ceramic designs within the brick arches over the windows. it does not include some of the charming details of earlier struc- tures, probably because of cost. The windows and decorative forms over the entrance resemble the bal- conies so frequently used elsewhere. And this building departs from the consistent earlier custom of using Roman numerals on its cornerstone. The Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Sciences lives here. Ryon Engineering Laboratory 108 Ryon Laboratory gives us another chance to see the campanile. This civil engineering building was financed mainly by the gift of Mr. and Mrs. L.B. Ryon, whose photo- graph hangs in the first-floor lobby. Mr. Ryon was chairman of that department for many years. ^X'hen the Ryons' gift was announced, the remainder of the faculty was quick to remind the administration that the Ryons had not accumulated the funds from his Rice salary. This building was completed in 1965. Calhoun, Tungate and Jackson were the architects. Mudd Building 109 The Mudd Building, erected in 1983, with Charles Tapley and Associates as architects, houses the three branches of the Information Systems of the university and is a beehive of activity at almost any hour Unfortunately the building is surrounded by Hamman Hall, the Ryon Civil Engineering Building, and the Herman Brown Building, making it difficult either to view it properly or to photograph it. There is a pleasant entrance area and an interesting octagonal skylight in the upper level. It does use both the limestone and the brick of earlier buildings, but it also introduces for the first time the dark horizontal bands of St. Joe brick. The only "della Robbias" used here are the ceramics containing the initial'R." The casual or even frequent visitor might miss the small limestone columns on the west side. Herman Brown Building 110 This is an interesting \ievv of the Herman Brown Building, which, although it was constructed in 1968, was not dedicated until 19''1. George and Abel Pierce were the architects. The departments of Computer Science. Mathematics, Mathematical Sciences, and Statistics "live" here. Hamman Hail HI Next door Hamman Hall, an auditorium with a capacity of about five hundred, is the home of the Rice Players and parts of the Shepherd School of Music. This building has many small glazed tiles, sometimes called "goodies," intermingled in the brickwork. The outside lobby of the building, like the entrance vestibule of the Ph>sics Building, has a very high reverbera- tion time. The inside lobby is also highly sound-reflective. A little hand-clapping here is both impres- sive and fun. Hamman Hall was officially opened in 1958 with the faculty Gilbert and Sullivan Society presentation oi Princess Ida. The selection was a particularly appro- priate one, since this was also the first full year that Mary Gibbs Jones College was open. (The operetta is about a most unusual women's university.) Space Science and Technology Building 112 From here we move to three science buildings, all of which were designed in the same architectural feeling by the same architects, Pierce and Pierce, who also designed Hamman Hall. The Space Science and Technology Building is the first of these, although it was actually built last, in 1966 Professor Emeritus David G. Parsons was commissioned to design special bricks for these buildings, and he carved a fascinating series of wood molds from which the sculptural bricks were cast. The story of the casting of these is one in itself, since a large majority of those manufactured had to be rejected. These bricks relate to the discipline of each building: space sciences, geology, and biology. Unlike the geology and biology buildings, this one did not have a special piece of sculpture in the stair tower on the east end. I understand the government paid for a large part of this building, so we were very lucky to be able to include even Mr. Parsons' bricks. of gravity, an apple, of 114 Here is Saturn with its rings 115 Now Sputnik, which was really responsible for launching the spac program, including this building. 116 This (probably) is Halley's Comet Not shown is a modern rocket superimposed on the first rocket, the Goddard Rocket. Others not shown are the Sun of Archimedes, the Aurora Borealis, disk antennae, spiral nebulae, an atomic particle, a proton, a neutron, and a symbol of the earth's magnetic fields. Keith -Wiess Geological laboratories f\ "^ -z^' 1 117 Now we come to the geology build- ing built in 1958. At one time there was a handsome and fascinating mobile in the stairwell at the east end. It was hung from the third- floor ceiling on a large swivel; but the high winds of Hurricane Carla caused it to break loose, and it was badly damaged. Dave Parsons was the designer and constructed it himself. It represented the galaxy of which our solar system is a part. The earth was a pretty small part of the system, but it was a delight to watch the metal and heavy stained glass parts revolve. 118 Htrt irt I few ot tht bricks th it rtl ite to the field ot gcolog) 1 irst the chambered nautilus. 119 Then the fossil leaf fc3fr^-^ii2=?4i,.;iiaKS»r-- 120 And the trilobite. 121 Here is a seismograph reading. Other bricks that are not shown are two different representations of twin calcite crystals, the world symbol, earth strata, ammonite suture pattern, fossil bark, and the light interference pattern in crystals. Anderson Biological Laboratories 122 Here we sec the Biology Lecture Hall, a later addition to the group, and the open court between biolo- gy on the left and geology on the right. When the biology building was originally constructed, a small horizontal slot was cut in one of the green marble panels on the north side. Through this slot hundreds of h()ne\ bees moved in and out trom their hive inside the building. The queen and some of the bees had been brought from the Physics Building in 1958. It was a fascinat- ing experience to search for the queen, who lived under glass so that the hive could be monitored. Alas, this prolific lady and her family no longer exist. :•«« ' 123 And here is a good photo of one of Dave Parsons' bricks, the moth. 124 Now the jellyfish. 125 Then the scorpion, one of my favorites. 126 And the molecular model of the amino acid glycine. You should search for a number of others: the squid, the starfish, the human embryo, a tapeworm, Wisconsin earthworms, hookworms, pro- tozoa, cell division, the power- house of the ctll (mitochondrion) and fmalh ON A bv,- 127 The biology building, also built in 1958, is another of those buildings that is much obscured by landscap- ing. Hence the photograph of this building is of the west end, which is a more recent addition. In the east stairwell, however, is a three- story sculpture by Dave Parsons. The later addition to the west end obscured or covered up one of my favorite mistakes, a jellyfish brick incorporated into the masonry with the tentacles sticking up! George R. Brown Biosciences Building 128 Set in the middle of one of the cross - axes of the campus plan, where one previously had an uninterrupted view from Richardson residential college all the way to Hamman Hall, is the new George R. Brown Biosciences Building. The name of the building indicates the depart- ments that will be occupants — Biochemistry. Bioengineering, and others. The architects for this build- ing are The Cambridge Seven, a firm which includes a Rice architec- tural alumnus, Charles Redmon. This building is almost surrounded by other science and engineering buildings. The photograph of a model (as this book goes to press the build- ing is under construction) shows that the materials used, limestone and buff brick, will help it blend in with existing campus buildings. Rice Memorial Student Center and Chapel 129 Across the road we can see the handsome bronze push plates on the entrance to the Rice Memorial Center, showing a very nice R I. above and a stylized owl below. When we enter the student center we are in the home of Sammy's (a cafeteria), the Campus Store, the Rice radio station KTRU, and Willie's Pub, the last being a favorite meet- ing spot for students and faculty. Alumni and student offices are also located here. On the original campus plan, this building was to be placed just east of the present location of Lovett College. Several other sites were proposed for it before it found a permanent home in 195H. Harvin Moore was the architect for both the Rice Chapel and the Rice Memorial Center. 130 Here is the campanile of the Memorial Center, and it is indeed a bell tower this time, albeit an electronic bell. 131 From this point near the Memorial Center one can look through the cloister of the Rice Chapel, through Anderson Biological Laboratories and Keith -Wiess Geological Labora- tories, all the way to the Space Science and Technology Building. 132 These owl capitals near the chapel are almost identical to those on the south and north ends of the Lovett Hall cloisters. 133 The court between the grand ball- room of the Memorial Center and the chapel is a peaceful place to sit and have lunch, except when the Shepherd School of Music has an ensemble of some kind playing there. Their occasional programs, though, are a great addition. Many students and alumni are married in the chapel, a gift of Mr and Mrs. J. Newton Rayzor The Robert H. Ray court is often used for receptions and other ceremonies. Naturally, the pigeons have found this quiet spot and often raise families over the chapel entrance. Around the court are blue ceramic owls and the initials R I These circular ceramics also appear on the exterior of the circular apse of the chapel, as we shall see. 134 The "della Robbia" owl and " are much more visible in this enlargement. (See Color Plate 9.) Here is the interior of the apse, with its brilHant gold mosaics. (See Color Plate 10.) These are some of the stained-glass windows that admit rich colored light into the interior. 135 The university seal appears again on each end of the wood pews. 136 Adjacent to the chapel is a small meditation chapel. The ornaments on the altar are the work of Ruth Laird. It is well worth asking for the key to see this miniature gem of a space. 137 The Ley Student Center is an addi- tion to the west end of the "old" Memorial Center. It was built in 1986 in honor of Audrey and Wendell Ley, and was designed by Cesar Pelli and Associates. It features exterior walls of blue glazed brick with horizontal bands of red St. Joe brick. The massive columns are actually structural steel columns clad half in limestone and buff brick and half in plaster painted dark green. A lone ceramic owl appears on the west end of the porte-cochere. The interior includes attractive lounges and study areas for students, an impressive octagonal meeting or dining room, and the "Brown Garden," honoring George R Brown, '20, with the inscription from Ovid, Acceptissima semper miinera sunt, auctor quae pretiosa facit. Translated freely: "Most wel- come always are gifts which are made precious by the giver" Within the garden is a handsome bust of Mr. Brown with the quotation To build the nation we must first educate the people. This area was funded by the J. S. Abercrombie Foundation. Alice Pratt Brown Hall 138 Somewhat remote from the other academic and residential buildings of the main campus is the Shepherd School of Music, located in the Alice Pratt Brown Hall. At the time this book is being prepared, the building is under construction, with completion scheduled for the 1990-91 academic year Only the photograph of a model was avail- able. The building will contain a concert hall seating slightly more than 1000 and a 250-seat recital hall, which explains its location near a large existing parking area. An organ /choral hall with a very high ceiling is also included. Of course, rehearsal rooms and smaller ensemble rooms were provided by architect Ricardo Bofill (Taller de Arquitectura), who will incorporate the St. Joe brick evident in many other Rice buildings. A major por- tion of the construction funds was made possible through the Brown Foundation. nimniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiii gi Herring Hail 139 An unusual number of colors were introduced into Herring Hall, a three-story structure housing the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business Administration. This building was the gift of Robert A. Herring in 1984, and it contains several details later used in the Le)' Student Center. Without using deep carving, which produced deep shadows, or the colored marbles that were available for the early Rice Institute buildings, a very colorful building was created nevertheless by the use of limestone, redbrick, buff brick, ceramic tiles, green glass, and dark green columns. An interesting feature is the wide interior hall on the first floor, sepa- rated by a partition of columns and glass from an equally wide exterior walk. Another distinctive feature is the herringbone pattern in brick on all the east and west exterior walls. This pattern is almost never used on the north and south exterior walls. And this pattern in buff brick and limestone led to the student nickname the "Herringbone Build- ing." The viewer will recognize the large columns, which are clad in curved limestone and buff brick, ceramic tiles, and sleeves of metal painted dark green. Again, the actual structural column is steel. The architect for this building was Cesar Pelli and Associates. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only building on campus that bears the architects' names. The same firm also prepared a new master plan for the university. 140 The Business Information Center (BIC) located in Herring Hall was the gift of Maconda and Ralph O'Conner. This more than two- story library has a balcony around the entire perimeter of the space. The lower floor can be rearranged into a large conference room as the study tables and lamps are easily removed. A reminder of the masonry herringbone patterns of the exterior east and west walls is found in the wall-to-wall carpet, and two-story columns in dark green are a natural interior use of the heavier masonry and metal- clad exterior columns. Despite the use of the cool colors of the col- umns and ceiling, this is a very rich, warm space. Do take time to visit this library, and then wander out into the north court to enjoy that side of Herring Hall, which is extensively obscured by oak trees. 141 Your guide assumes you followed his instructions to visit the open court on the north side of Herring Hall and are now viewing the east end of the building. The herring- bone pattern in the masonry is used here in a variety of ways. First it is used on flat surfaces, as on the west end. But it is also used on short north and south walls, and even on a curved surface. This requires that the pattern turn corners, without interrupting the distinctive design. Careful inspection of the left side of the photograph will reveal the triangular glass feature over the main south entrance. It is worth a short stroll down the east side to get a closer look. Fondren Library 142 From Herring Hall, we move to Fondren Library, walking through the cloisters and out in front of the building. You will see two large marble owls, which appear some- what pompous, if not overweight. These owls, as well as the five lime- stone panels on the front of the building, are the work of sculptor Herring Coe. 143 Fondren Library was completed in 1949 under architects Staub, Rather and Howze. Its location was the first real deviation from the original master plan, and that change forever defined the academic court as a much smaller space than on the original plan. Any future academic expansion will undoubtedly create secondary or tertiary academic courts. The history of the development of writing is depicted in stone above the main entrance. There is a total of five carvings, and the first shows the earliest form of recording information — pictographic writing — with symbols of the civilizations who used this form of writing. Apparently even Noah used it, for closer examination of the lower right corner shows the ark. ;.:^ ,;M ^ \ ■^^ =* •^ % 144 On the next panel, cuneiform sym- bols are shown; these had their ori- gin in Persia and Assyria. Some of the early tablets were found in Chaldea. The tablets, made of some of the earliest used metals — gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin — con- tained the story of the construction of the palace in cuneiform. Syrian and Persian figures are shown, but one of the most interesting forms is the hard-to-recognize Chaldean ramped temple in the upper left- hand corner 145 Next we have some of the hiero- glyphics of Egypt, with the Sphinx and the pyramid in the upper left- hand corner, and with the first paper, a piece of papyrus. >X'e also see a part of the Greek alphabet, from which the Roman was derived, and Romulus and Remus being nursed bv the wolf, and the Ionic column and the cross symbolizing the beginning of Christianity. 146 For some reason, hardly chronolog- ical, the next panel represents the industrial age and the mass produc- tion of books, including best sellers and paperbacks, no doubt. Some of the related symbols include the sphere of the world and the gears t)f the printing machines. 147 just around the corner and appar- ently out of sequence is a panel that represents the era when books were copied by hand by monks in monasteries; the cross and the cru- sades represent Christianity and the knights with their maces in battle Rayzor Hall Rayzor Hall is hardly a storehouse of architectural delight, but take note of the two shields over the south and north entrances. The first is the usual Rice shield; and the second, which is also in stone, is a shield representing various areas of the arts. A shield that is almost identical to the latter may be found on Hanszen College and will be shown later. The one on Hanszen differs in that it is a ceramic shield and has the word Arts under it. Staub, Rather and Howze were the architects for this building in 1962 Cohen House 148 Our next stop is the Robert and Agnes Cohen House, the Faculty Club. Arriving at the structure, we stop to see the sundial, another gift of Mr. and Mrs. George Cohen. Cohen House was the first of sev- eral gifts to the university from the Cohens, this one being in honor of his parents. Mr. Cohen financed the building through a loan from the Rice Institute, which was a very nice arrangement for the Institute. He was subjected to much good- natured teasing over the years about obeying the one command- ment (the fifth) that offered any reward This building was con- structed in 192", and >X'illiam Ward Watkin was the architect. 149 This photograph was taken of tht paved terrace and cloister on the south side of the huiiding before it was obscured by planting and before a later enlargement of the dining room. A small tiled fountain in the center of the terrace was enclosed by brick and stone piers, with wrought-iron fencing between some of the piers. With the excep- tion of the fountain, this terrace was left in place when the size of the club was increased. One of the faculty picked up a piece of the tile when the fountain was being demol- ished, and that tile found its way into my hands, and eventually into the archives. The fountain, complete with water bubbling out of a pipe, created real problems for faculty mothers at the annual Easter egg hunt , as the little ones were naturally attracted to it and almost all tried to climb in at one time or another. 150 Here is another early view of the cloister where the heads of a num- ber of the earlier faculty were cut in stone. The head of Asa Chandler of biology is on the column nearest the camera. 151 On the west side of the building is this very interesting entry to the club. The columns are reminiscent of some at St. Abbondio. a church in Como, Italy. Carved into the limestone lintel over this doorway is the Cohen family shield. It can also be seen on some of the chairs in the lounge. 152 Here, on the north side, is an ornamental balcony with Italian Romanesque detail and a Rice shield in stone over the opening. Three more Rice owls! 153 Now we may enter the club through the original main entrance. While some, especially visitors, now come to the club by way of the new covered canopy at the east side of the new dining room, people arriving on foot from various parts of the cam- pus are well rewarded for their walk. 154 Inside the club, passing through the lounge with its richly decorated ceiling, we come to the original stone cloister seen earlier. There we should note sculptures of the heads of Esther and George Cohen. Sculp- tured likenesses of the heads of his parents are also located here. These were added at about the time the new dining room was added in 1958 by Lloyd and Jones, Architects. Even I had a minor part in the con- struction of the club, for 1 made some changes in the second floor years ago, before the new dining room was added. In my experience, Mr. Cohen was a good client. 155 I cannot include photographs of all the heads of the faculty located in the club, such as Dr. Max Frcund, formerly of the German department, who 1 think holds the Rice record for longevity — just over 100 years. The pair of Joe H. Pound of engineer- ing and Herbert K. Humphrey of electrical engineering have also been omitted, but here is Harold A. Wilson of physics. 156 Since the name of each facuhv member is on a small metal plate just below the head shown, it is easy for the tourist to identify them. Dr Harry B. \Xeiser of chemistry is not shown here, but the head of William Ward Watkin is an excellent likeness 157 I must include the head of Dr Radoslav A. Tsanoff of philosophy. The board of trustees appointed him Distinguished Professor of Philosophy after he was supposed to retire to allow students to con- tinue to take his courses. The board made a total of five such appoint- ments. Dr Tsanoff's daughter Katherine Brown was on the faculty in fine arts and dean of undergraduate affairs. She retired at the end of the 1988-89 academic year Unfortunately, because of limit- ed space 1 cannot show a photograph of the head of Dr Marcel Moraud of the French department, but you will see it on one of the capitals. 158 Of international stature was Stock- ton Axson of the English depart- ment. Since Robert G. Caldwell of history was shown on the Chem- istry Building, his photo is not included here. Others whom I am listing but not showing are the pair of Leon B. Ryon and H. Willis Slaughter, of civil engineering and sociology, respectively, and Griffith Evans of mathematics. 159 It would never do to omit the pair of heads of John T. McCants and Samuel Glenn McCann, for they were a part of the lives of students almost from the beginning. Mr. McCann was the director of admis- sions (Admissions Committee, in fact) and registrar, and Mr. McCants was the bursar and on the faculty in English. He had originally come to Rice as Dr. Lovett's secretary in 1910. The two were often referred to as the positive and negative of the Rice institute. Mr. McCann let you in and Mr McCants often let you out, if you were in arrears with vour bills. 160 When the new dining room was added to the Faculty Club, along with the enlarging of the kitchen facilities, the fountain that George Cohen had brought from Europe was incorporated into the design and was made a part of the walled garden. Without Mr Cohen's know- ledge, the Spanish moss that hung in profusion from the live oaks within the garden was removed. Mr Cohen was both disappointed and disturbed by this and had more moss purchased and hung from the trees. Unfortunately, much of the new moss died. In connection with the addition, the financial arrange- ments were handled in the same way as for the original building, i.e., by obtaining a loan from Rice University and protecting that loan with a life insurance policy. In the new dining room were two blank walls, on the east and west ends. Bill McVey was com- missioned to use these walls for permanently recognizing more recent members of the faculty, a total of eighteen. These are done in terra cotta, and the name of each faculty member is again directly under his portrait. I think 1 should point out that Bill McVey was a former student in architecture, a former member of the faculty of that department, and most recently director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Cleveland, from which position he has retired. At the 1983 commencement he was honored as an outstanding alum- nus. From left to right on the east wall are the portraits of Dr. Joseph 1. Davies, formerly of biology; Dr Carroll Camden, Professor Emeritus of English; and Dr. Claude Heaps, the man from whom all freshmen took Physics 100 over many years. 161 And then comes Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Chemis- try G. Holmes Richter. who until shortly before his recent death, maintained an office in the Chem- istry Building where he could be found daily. 162 Then we have the second president of the Institute, Dr. William V. Houston, who was also a physicist. K m 1 1 « / 1 , — / . 163 Next is Dr. Carey Croneis who was provost and acting president of the university, as well as professor of geology. aSf 164 Here is Dr. Thomas W. Bonner, for whom the Bonner Physical Labora- tory was named. Dr Floyd lUrich, formerly professor of mathematics, is not shown, despite the fact that he was one of the most skilled bil- liard players on the faculty. 165 I do show Dr. Alan D. McKillop, who was one of the recipients of the Distinguished Professorships, his in English. 166 And beginning with the faculty portraits on the west wall is that of James "Jimmy" Chillman, Jr, who began teaching at Rice in 19 H and was ultimately appointed a Distin- guished Professor of Fine Arts. He was also founder and former direc- tor of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and taught until he was eighty years old. Next comes Professor Emeritus of French, Dr Andre Bourgeois (not shown here), and Dr. A.J. Hartsook, Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering (also not shown). 73 167 Another former Distinguished Professor was Dr Hubert E. Bray, mathematician, humorist, and the other of the two most skilled bil- hard players. Dr Bray received his Ph.D. from Rice in 1918 and taught until 1970. 168 Finally, we come to the first pres- ident, Edgar Odell Lovett, who wa: Mr. Rice Institute for many years. Later we see the residential college that was named for him. 169 This is Floyd S. Lear, Distinguished Professor of History. Recently two distinguished professors were appointed by the Board of Trustees: Dr William E. Gordon in engineer- ing and Dr Norman S. Hackerman in chemistry. These two did not actually teach after their appoint- ments, nor have they been immor- talized in stone or clay, as the earlier appointees were. Dr Edgar Altenburg of biology, James S. Waters of electrical engineer- ing, and Gilbert L. Hermance of physical education complete those on the west wall who are not shown. If yt)u do some real searching around the exterior of Cohen House, vou may locate a pair of heads cut in stone. These are Anderson Todd and William Cannady, the archi- tects in 19"6 for alterations that eliminated the billiards room and changed the library into a bar known as "George's Tavern." Allen Center 170 A three-story structure as originally built in 1963, it was increased to four in igS'' with the addition of a floor completely encircled by a stone colonnade. Many administra- tive offices are here, including the Registrar's Office, the Cashier's Office, the Comptroller, the Devel- opment Office, Finance and Admin- istration, Personnel, and University Relations. Herbert and Helen Allen were the donors, and Lloyd, Jones and Philpott were the architects. 171 On our way to Baker College, we stop by the north lobby of Allen Center, where a large, handsome stone owl is keeping watch over the business of the university Thi is the work of Annie Courv. Residential Colleges When the residential college sys- tem was introduced in 195^, a major series of additions was made to East Hall (Baker College), South Hall (Will Rice College), West Hall (Hanszen College) and Wiess Hall. The last was built in 1950, and Staub, Rather and Howze were the architects. When it was laid out, an error of two or three degrees was made so that it is not parallel to the other buildings on campus. Addi- tional living spaces were added to all of the new colleges except Wiess. New dining halls were added to all the colleges except for Baker, which already had one; and a master's residence was added to all four 172 \X'e begin our tour of the colleges at the east end of Baker College, built in 1914 and originally called East Hall. This is an unusual elevation, in that the columns are marble and there is both limestone and consid- erable brick. The areas of the wall that are stucco barely redeem the original philosophy regarding use of materials on residential buildings. ( See Color Plate 11.) On the newer wing of Baker College, we have four stone owls roosting on four stone pilasters. The colorful mosaics were designed by James Chillman and were made in Mexico. These mosa- ics are located in many other areas of Baker, and also on Will Rice and Hanszen colleges. All the additions to the new colleges were the work of Wilson, Morris, Crain and Ander- son, Architects. liiittiiiiitft 173 This is the south cloister of Baker College, showing ten columns with very unusual capitals, with surpris- ing quotations for a nonsectarian school. They come from the book of Proverbs in the Bible, and from the Wisdom of Solomon in the book of the Apocrypha, which is not included in most denomina- tions' Bibles. The series begins on the first column on the left, closest to the commons, and had to be carved in sequence, as in some cases the quotations are too long to appear on just one capital. It was rather a neat trick to make the proverbs fit exactly on ten columns, especially since one side of columns 4 and ■' could not be used. The quota- tions begin on the west face and continue on the south, east, and north faces in order. Only the carv- ing on the first column is shown. On column I (from Wisdom of Solomon, Chapter "', Verse ^): 174 I PRAYED & L'NDERSTAND ^yfiZu^ 175 ING WAS GIVEN ME. 1 CALLD 177 OF WISDOM CAME UNTO ME On column 2 (>X'isdom of Solo- mon, Chapter ~. \'erscs 2S and 26): FOR WISDOM IS A BREATH OF THE POW ER OF GOD SHE IS THE REFLECTION OF THE EVERLASTING LIGHT On column 3 (Verse 2""): IN ALL At.ES ENTER ING INTO HOLY SOL LS SHE MAKETH FRIENDS OF GOD AND PROPHETS The quotations on columns 4 through 8 are sometimes used in Episcopal churches and perhaps others as the Old Testament reading for the eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. On column 4 (Book of Proverbs, Chapter 9, Verse 1): W ISDO.M H.\TH BLTLDED A D 191-1 [where the downspout interfered | HER HOI SE, SHE HATH HE\X N HER SENEN PILLARS, SHE On column 5 (Proverbs. Chapter 9, \'erse 2): H.\TH MINGLED HER WINE SHE HATH ALSO FIRNISH ED HER TABLE SHE HATH SENT FOR HER MAIDENS On column 6 (Verse 3): SHE CRIETH I PON THE HIGHEST PLACES OF THE CITY, WHOSO IS SLMPLE LETHIMTIRN IN HITHER On column ~ (Verse -i): AS FOR HI.M THAT IS VOID #lt 178 AD I9i4 I another do\\ nspout I OF UNDERSTANDING, SHE SAITH TO HIM, COME EAT On column 8 (Verses S and 6): YE OF MY BREAD & DRINK OF THE WINE WHICH 1 HAVE MINGLED & WALK IN THE WAY OF UNDERSTANDING On column 9 (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verse 34): BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT HEARETH ME, WATCH ING DAILY AT MY GATES WAITING AT THE POSTS On column 10 (Proverbs, Chapter 8, Verse 35): OF MY DOORS, FOR WHOSO FINDETH ME, FINDETH LIFE AND SHALL OBTAIN FA\'OL'R OF THE LORD. 179 We continue our tour with a view of the original "Faculty Tower," with its now inoperative clock. In earlier days unmarried members of the faculty often lived here. The large clock did operate then. The cloister at the right connects Baker College dining liall to the wing of Will Rice College that was known as South Hall; that was the first actual residential dormitory on campus. Note the single marble column magically located where a larger arch would not fit. There are now a total of eight colleges, whereas originally (in 195'') there were five, which included Jones, the first women's college. 180 Here is the exterior of the capital of the lonesome column, and another senior The inside of this column also shows the head of a student, but one who must not be graduating. (See Color Plate 12.) In the library of Baker College are several of the original lighting fixtures in stained glass, giving the designer another chance to use the Rice shield. 181 This early photograph shows Mr. Watkin supervising the laying of the cornerstone for South Hall. Note the campanile with the 1912 top in the background. You might also notice that the cornerstone does not appear to have been completed, as the date has not yet been carved on it: MDCCCCXli As was his custom. Dr. Lovett wrote the inscription, which reads: TO THE FREEDOM OF SOUND LEARNING AND THE FELLOW SHIP OF YOITH 182 The very handsome south cloister of old Will Rice College makes one feel he is in Italy. This cloister forms the north side of a quadran- gle enclosed on three sides by Will Rice College buildings. 183 Here is one of the floral capitals on that cloister. 184 Here begins a series of terra-cotta panels on Will Rice College dining hall and on the Hanszcn College dining hall. These depict various aspects of student life in the 1920s. Bill McVey, a freshman in 1923 who received his degree in architecture in 192"', designed and made them with the help of Mrs. McVey, who was a ceramist of international sta- ture, having exhibited extensively in the United States and many other countries. Three separate firings were required: one for the stone- ware, a second (at lower tempera- tures) for the color glazes, and a third when mosaics were used. The mosaics were imported from Flor- ence. Italy. The terra cottas were installed in 1957. but unfortunately Mr. McVey does not recall the exact significance of every one of the panels. I have not included photo- graphs of the first two on the left: a student nervously anticipating a date, and an engineer with a slide rule. (Today, the engineering stu- dent might not know how to use a slide rule!) This student is writing home, undoubtedly for money. 185 Here is another student, studying catenary curves and towers and structures equations: probably a civil engineer 186 The next panel is the freshman quarterback George Alexander "Granddaddy" Wood, who in 1924 completed a sixty-yard pass to "Red" Moore. George Wood was elected to the Rice Hall of Fame in 1983- 187 This is a freshman, \ery immature, from El Campo, wearing the 'dink' required of first-year students in those days. ^ I22Sr' W\ 188 And an architectural student with T-square and triangle, no douht burning the midnight oil 189 A student in Biology 100 dissects an unfortunate frog. Omitted is the next panel of a student studying the constellations, so you will have to come to the campus to see this very nice terra cotta with its gold ceramic constellations. 190 A student rather sleepily resigns himself to missing his eight o'clock class, which happened (especially on Saturdays!) to many students in the days when the faculty were early risers and liked early classes. Not shown is the terra cotta of the young man who has a vision of the opposite sex, which shows what happens to good intentions to study. Book is closed! 191 This particularly wonderful panel shows Jesse Madden of the class of 192^ hoisting the freshman class president Bill McVey into the hid- den spaces of the Turnverein Club. He reportedly spent two days hid- ing in the ceiling until the night of the sophomore prom, which he crashed by lowering himself down. Not shown is a baffled engineer, unable to solve the math problems furnished bv Dr. Hubert Brav. 192 Here is Jack Glenn, a dedicated cheerleader and former Rice Thresher editor, who later became prominent in radio news reporting. He is shown against a background of mosaic tile, which Bill McN'ey called "smalti" and used to repre- sent a crowd in the background. Omitted are the senior who dreams of the diploma so near and yet so far; another student — who shall be nameless — who hated water in any form but gets a much-needed bath, probably in Hermann Park; and hamburgers, known as 'hockey pucks, " being served to unhappy diners bv a student waiter. 193 There are five ceramic shields on the newer portion of Hanszen Col- lege. This first one is obvious; but the use of color is very nice indeed, and you should really make an effort to see it. Bill McA'ey did this Rice shield. 194 Another is the shield of Hanszen College, a very flamboyant design. 195 And another is the shield representing the arts, which I referred to earlier as being identical to the stone carv- ing on Rayzor Hall. This one is much nicer! 196 Still another is the shield represent- ing engineering. 197 Finally, the one representing science is on the south wall of one of the residential wings of the college and is very nicely done. 198 The terra-cotta panels on Hanszen College were done at the same time as those at Will Rice College, but a fire destroyed the original commons at Hanszen in the summer of 1975. No damage was done to the McVey terra cottas, but when the dining hall was rebuilt it was redesigned; and space for only sixteen ceramics was provided, instead of seventeen. The panel showing a sophomore paddling a freshman was omitted. It was broken at one time but was repaired by Dr Stephen Baker, who was then master of Hanszen College; it is now in the archives. The panels on Hanszen are now set in a very dark glazed tile, rather than in the regular St. Joe brick. 199 The names of the graduating seniors are read, with those who are graduating "with distinction" or "with honors" in those days. It was only comparatively recently that the honors "cum laude," "magna cum laude," and "summa cum laude ' have been awarded. Attendance of the faculty at com- mencement was mandatory, but some of the faculty spouses were parked nearby, ready to leave the Houston summer heat as soon as the exercises were over. The first air conditioning on campus was installed when Fondren Library was built. In sequence, the panels not shown here are a rela)' runner, which has a lovely background of "smalti"; and a chemistry student with his laboratory apparatus. 200 Much poker was played in those days, and this sometimes led to enforced withdrawal from the Insti- tute. Today the computer can become just as addictive as playing cards sometimes was then. Look carefully for the panel of the student writing a girl back home, with her picture pro\ iding the necessary inspiration, as w ell as the panel of the civil engineer surveying the campus for the millionth time and the panel of the baseball player "taking his cuts" with the crowd in the background. 201 A student studies French, a foreign language being an Institute require- ment in those days. It hardly seemed necessary to include the next panel of "boy meets girl," this being typi- cal of campus life at every university. 202 And here we have Bill McVey in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the background. In the lower right- hand corner is "To — E. J. O." Dr. Eugene Oberle felt that no architec- tural student's education was com- plete unless he traveled in Europe, and he personally arranged the finances that made it possible for McVcy to do so. In Mc\'ey's words. "Skoal, Gene. " It was about this time when the traveling fellowship was instituted in the Department of Architecture, with funds provided by the Archi Arts Ball. The next three panels are not shown here. The first is a student trying to decide on a major; the second shows a student with Sammy the owl; and the third appears to be a student who has a serious case of spring fever, or perhaps "thoughts lightly turn. ^6 ^^i Ihl^ ^ i....,yQ^LVk,.,u, 203 From the days of winning teams, we see a football substitute await- ing his big chance. The next two panels are a student comfortably settled in a Hardoi chair, undoubt- edly making a long telephone call, and a biologist weary from chasing butterflies with his net. 204 This is the cloister of the dormitory built in 1916 and known then as West Hall. Today it is part of Hanszen College. This cloister helps to form the Hanszen quadrangle. 205 On the left of the cloister arches is a single arch that is more than reminiscent of some in Italy. The cornerstone is to the right of this arch and reads O VISION OF those EARLY DAYS O SPIRIT OF OUR YEARS OF FAITH AND. JUSTICE IN ALLIANCE WITH FREEDOM SOUL OF ART AND SCIENCE AND BEAUT-i' TRUTHS UNDYING Vi RAITH GO V( ITH OUR SONS ON ALL THEIR WAYS •ff F FF 206 On the north side of the old por- tion of Hanszen College are two unusual unsymmetrical entrances. Here is one of them. The small objects below the tall window are shells, cut into the stone. 207 Here is the other entrance. Take a little time to study both of them. At first they appear the same, but they are really very different. If you turn around after you look at these, you will see Wiess College. On the north side of the Wiess commons are two types of shields in stone : Rice shields and Wiess College shields. 208 Edgar Odell Lovett College was built in 1968. It was the second college in the form of a modest "high-rise," Brown College being the first. Brown was built in 1965, the architect being Alan Shepherd of Brown and Root. The architects for Lovett College were ^X'ilson, Morris, Crain and Anderson. In this photograph, the dormitory portion is on the right and the commons is on the left. 209 The contemporary sculpture in the entry garden of the college was created by Jim Love and is really quite striking. The push bars on the commons doors are of wood and have little Rice shields carved on them. 210 Passing through the Lovett College garden, we see a more-than-modest frame cage that is the home of "Sammy," the Rice mascot. And here he is, austere and sleepy, as he should be in daylight. In real life he is more majestic than even the finest of the car\ed ones. In the 194()s owls both roosted and re- produced in the chemistry tower Although they are no longer there, the students always seem to have a live one on hand to be carried on high to basketball and football games and other student functions 211 The real multistory dormitory is Sid Richardson College. It is the only college in which the master's residence is incorporated in the dor- mitory structure. It was designed by architects Neuhaus and Taylor and completed in 1971. 212 In the court between Jones College and Brown College is the bronze statue called The Sisters, the work of the renowned Carl Milles. The water fountains follow a cycle from virtually obscuring the figures with spray to no spray on the figures at all, at which time the surrounding fountains are at their highest. 213 IkK IS .1 jiart of Jones College, nanieh Jones North. The college was completed in 1957 with Lloyd, Morgan and Jones as architects. This college also has a quadrangle contained on three sides by the dormitory wings and the commons. It used to be a very nice space, but the landscaping has made it difficult to feel the enclosure of the buildings and equally hard to photograph them. 214 This is the Jones College shield in mosaic near the entrance to the dining hall. Rice Stadium 215 From the colleges, walk or look across the parking lot to the ^2.000- seat Rice Stadium. It was completed in 1950, nine months after the foot- ball team won the Cotton Bowl on January 1, 1950. This photograph shows the great hole in the ground created by Brown and Root, the contractors, who kept the associated architects, Milton McGinty and Lloyd, Morgan and Jones burning the night oil trying to keep the design and drawings ahead of construc- tion. Rice Stadium was one of the first stadiums, if not the first, where the spectators entered at midlevel. The date of this photograph is March 1950. During construction many Houstonians followed the progress of the work by visiting the site every Sunday in response to a sign on Rice Boulevard that in\ ited each and all to a fifty yard line con- struction observation seat. (See Color Plate 13.) This stadium is truly a handsome piece of archi- tecture. Here is a June 12.1950. photograph of the fift) yard line upper stands. Funds for the con- struction of the stadium were raised by selling "options" to buy tickets in certain locations for a period of twenty years, plus funds accum- ulated by the Athletic Department. The original charter of the Institute prohibited borrowing funds for the construction of buildings, undoubt- edly a wise limitation for a pri\ate university. As a result, the stadium was paid for upon completion. 216 The forms for the lower fifty yard line seats were literally bent to form the curved seats on the four "corn- ers." This photo was also taken on June 12, 1950. 217 On September 5, 1950, only a few seats remained to be installed. The team entrance is located at the right or south end of the stadium; and the pumphouse, which keeps the surface from flooding, is at the north end of the field. The official opening matched Rice against Santa Clara, and fortunately the use of this facility began on a winning note, as Rice won 2"* to ^. 1 hope this tour also ends on a win- ning note. VChile you may feel that your visit has been complete, there are a minimum of two hundred other items worth seeing. 1 have been looking over the campus for more than forty years now, and I find new points of interest almost e\ery trip. Whether or not you return for more, 1 know that 1 shall! The possibilities of seeing are end- less and will make for more and more enjoyment for us all. Revised And Expanded