Heritage Landscape Plan

Mid-century Era (1947 - 1974)

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HISTORY

Near the end of the Second World War the University of Oregon, driven by a significant jump in enrollment, grew at an accelerated rate. Enrollment almost tripled to 6,467 students between 1944 and 1946, with a corresponding increase in faculty. University facilities were greatly strained trying to accommodate this demand, and the administration resorted to using temporary housing and classroom buildings, many of which were former military facilities moved on site. At the same time (1946) Ellis Lawrence died leaving a vacancy in the position responsible for ensuring continuity in development.

In 1946 voters agreed to designate previously unappropriated funds collected during the war for the construction of new campus buildings.This program financed Carson Hall (a women’s dormitory) and Robinson Theatre, among others. That same year the university student body and alumni expressed the desire to create a student union building. With no funds available for construction, the students assessed themselves a fee to raise money, and the Alumni Association organized a capital campaign. In 1950, as a result of these efforts, the Erb Memorial Union opened.

Throughout the 1950s new construction was limited to dormitories (Earl and Walton Complexes), though numerous buildings received renovation. More dorms were constructed in the 1960s (Hamilton and Bean Complexes), along with a number of academic buildings. The new humanities building, Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, was completed in 1962 and received funding mainly from federal sources.

	Carson Hall, circa 1955.

Many of the buildings constructed during the Mid-century Era were influenced by the International Modernist movement, the prevalent style of the time. Building designs began to take advantage of a variety of exterior materials readily available, including steel, glass, and concrete. For the first time since the Inception Era, an assortment of architects began to work on campus, designing in a range of expressions. This plethora of expressions replaced the architectural harmony that was a hallmark of the Lawrence/Cuthbert Era.

The main campus had grown to 202 acres primarily through an eastward expansion. Planning for this new area and the campus as a whole fell under the jurisdiction of the Campus Planning Committee, which advised planning work from 1946 to 1967. It did not have the strong leadership evidenced in the prior era. In 1962 the university commissioned a plan from Lawrence Lackey, the first master plan since Lawrence’s death. A main goal of the plan was to show how the university could accommodate a doubling of current enrollment within a ten-year span. Lackey accomplished this through sizable additions to existing buildings and new building sites to the east and south of the campus core. These sites tended to focus on larger “complex” arrangements, especially in regards to student residences. New construction, never actually instituted, was even proposed in the Pioneer Cemetery. In fact very little actual work was completed based on this plan.

Twenty-one buildings constructed during this era still exist today and were surveyed for this study. This building phase rivals that of the Lawrence/Cuthbert in number of structures, but likely surpasses it in the development of gross square footage. Further research is required to identify the role of Wallace “Mac” Ruff played in campus landscape design and developent during this era.
	The first phase of Prince Lucien Campbell Hall (right), constructed in 1968 on west side of the Memorial Quadrangle. This building is now the tallest on campus.

ERA CHARACTERISTICS

In the vein of the previous era, the century continued a substantial period of camus development. This growth was not as carefully coordinated as that in the Lawrence/Cuthbert and was often conducted without a guiding master plan. Landscape areas feel less coordinated with the adjoining new buildings.

Of the twenty-one landscapes surveyed for this study, eleven have a significant association with this era. More research will be required to reveal other significant connections not perceptible now. A listing of specific defining characteristics for this era follows.

Land Use, General
University, auto through-circulation.

Spatial Organization
Reinforcement of malls, termination of axes and development of new ones. Acquisition and retention of new open spaces for quadrangles. Larger scale buildings and open spaces, with smaller interior and edge courtyards. Greater complexity in landscape.

Natural Systems and Features
Tree canopy beginning to close up before 1962 Columbus Day storm; and opened up again immediately afterwards.

Circulation Patterns
Mostly retained from previous eras, and streamlined. Variation on diagonal theme in new Straub Quadrangle. Some pathways with a meandering character.

Topography
Flat and evenly sloping planes.

Vegetation
Extensive loss and replanting of trees. Species diversification into campus arboretum, and more informal plantings. Magnolias introduced. Double rows of street trees planted. Understory and shrub borders, and lawn.

Views and Vistas
More internalized views with the termination of axes (Memorial Quad, University, Onyx).

Buildings and Structures
Numerous new buildings and additions. International Modernist and Brutalist styles, more massive and taller with minimal ornament. Eexterior materials include brick, stucco, metal, and concrete.

Small-scale Elements
Sculpture, low brick seat and planter walls, benches.

Edge Conditions
Edges formed by tall building facades, roads and pathways, reinforced by tree allees. Less relationship to adjacent landscape than previous era.

 McKenzie Hall (1970)

Interactive Map of Historic Buildings and Landscapes

1.0 Landscape Preservation Guidelines and Description of Historic Resources
- Section I
- Section II
- Section III
         - Inception Era
         - Lawrence/Cuthbert Era
         - Mid-century Era

- Appendices (pdf)
- Complete Document (pdf)

2.0 Site Specific Preservation Plans and Guidelines

3.0 Historic Landscapes

4.0 Historic Buildings

An abundance of trees,  attractively grouped, pathways  and lanes between various  buildings, shrubbery of different  kinds, and always flowers in  their appropriate  seasons,  enable the Oregon campus to have  a distinction peculiar to itself.
    
 -"The Campus Beautiful" in the
1920 Oregana yearbook