Rudolph, Paul

▪ 1998

      American architect (b. Oct. 23, 1918, Elkton, Ky.—d. Aug. 8, 1997, New York, N.Y.), became one of the most eminent postwar Modernist architects in the U.S. before fading into relative obscurity in the 1970s. Rudolph studied with German Modernist Walter Gropius at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he earned (1947) a master's degree in architecture. One year later he established his own architectural firm in Sarasota, Fla. His designs for a series of spare, airy houses in the Siesta Key area earned him a reputation as a virtuoso composer of space, form, and light. His renown quickly spread, and in 1957 Rudolph was named chairman of Yale University's prestigious architecture school, a position he held until 1965. During his tenure he completed one of the most defining commissions of his career—the 10-story Art and Architecture Building on the Yale campus. Never simply a slavish disciple of European Modernism, Rudolph, it was said, "broke the Atlantic sound barrier, creating designs that were more than the sum of their European influences." Anchored by poured-in-place concrete towers, the Yale building's exterior formed a lively collage of interlocking geometric shapes. In contrast to this monumental street presence, the interior appeared seamless, flowing, and shot with light, an illusion Rudolph created by using a complex assemblage of 37 different levels divided by glass walls. The building, however, became the target of student protesters who set fire to it in 1969. By then, Rudolph's reputation had begun to decline in the United States, and his abstract Modernist aesthetic was soon eclipsed by the growing popularity of Postmodernism's revival of historical styles and ornamentation. He continued, however, to find an audience for his work in Asia. Working from his historic brownstone on Beekman Place in New York City, famous in design circles for the architect's controversial Modernist renovation in the 1960s, Rudolph drafted monolithic high-rise projects for such cities as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Jakarta, Indon.

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▪ American architect

in full  Paul Marvin Rudolph 

born October 23, 1918, Elkton, Kentucky, U.S.

died August 8, 1997, New York, New York

      one of the most prominent Modernist architects in the United States after World War II. His buildings are notable for creative and unpredictable designs that appeal strongly to the senses.

      Rudolph received a bachelor's degree in architecture from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1940 and received a master's degree at Harvard University, where he studied under Walter Gropius (Gropius, Walter). During World War II he served (1943–46) with the U.S. Navy as a supervisor of ship construction at the Brooklyn Naval Yard.

      In the late 1940s and early '50s Rudolph practiced architecture in Sarasota, Florida, first as a designer of private residences for the firm of Twitchell and Rudolph and later working independently. His early designs used the glass walls and austere geometry of the International Style but attracted attention by their ingenious construction and attractive lines. Rudolph came to believe that a building's form should develop from and be integrated with its interior uses and structure, and this led him to break up a building's masses into distinctly articulated units that are interesting from both the outside and the inside. His early orchestrations of different units were regular and rather symmetrical, as in the Mary Cooper Jewett Arts Center for Wellesley College (1955–58).

      From 1958 to 1965 Rudolph was chairman of the department of architecture at Yale University. His School of Art and Architecture at Yale University (1958–63), with its complex massing of interlocking forms and its variety of surface textures, is typical of the increasing freedom, imagination, and virtuosity of his mature building approach. Considered one of the most defining designs of his career, the 10-story building featured an interior that appeared seamless, flowing, and shot with light. (In 1969 the building was set on fire by student protestors.) Rudolph's Boston Government Service Center (1963) and the Endo Laboratories in Garden City, New York (1962–64), continued a trend toward complex, irregularly silhouetted, and dynamic structures that contain dissimilar but harmoniously combined masses, shapes, and surfaces.

      In 1965 Rudolph left Yale to practice in New York City. His practice grew in size and volume and embraced master plans for urban communities as well as designs for campuses and educational buildings, office buildings, and residential projects. Other important works by Rudolph include the IBM Complex at East Fishkill, New York (1962; with Walter Kiddle), and the Burroughs Wellcome Corporate Headquarters, Research Triangle Park, at Durham, North Carolina (1969).

      By the late 1960s, Rudolph's reputation had begun to decline in the United States, as his abstract Modernistic aesthetic began to be eclipsed by the growing popularity of Postmodernism's revival of historical styles and ornamentation. He continued, however, to find an audience for his designs in Asia. Working from his historic brownstone on Beekman Place in New York City, famous in design circles for the architect's controversial Modernistic renovation in the 1960s, Rudolph drafted monolithic high-rise projects for such cities as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Jakarta, Indonesia.

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